Takes Notice
by Coat
Summary: The first time James Potter noticed Lily Evans, she was threatening his best friend. And doing a damn good job of it as well.
1. In Which There is Threatening

"That's enough!"

The wand was snatched from Sirius' hand with a violence that jerked his whole arm down. He moved, reflexively, to try and get it back, but it was suddenly pointing straight between his eyes. He froze, along with James, Remus, Peter and the first year on the floor in a heap. He couldn't see past the wand-tip he was going cross-eyed to keep in sight, but he could see some sort of bright red blur about arm's length away from him. There was a horrible, expectant hush in the whole corridor, and the group of six were suspending in a little bubble of space in the crowded hall.

The girl, because it was a girl who had just disarmed Sirius, slowly pushed her hair back from her face with one hand. The other, clutching Sirius' wand with white knuckles, trembled with suppressed rage. The first year on the floor sat up, eyes wide. James tried, slowly, to reach for his own wand in his pocket, but her other hand darted up and her own wand was pressed against his throat. He suddenly wanted to swallow, but it was so close to his skin he couldn't. She was seriously pissed, and he let his hand drop. She was wearing a prefect badge and a Gryffindor scarf, but the red wool of the stripes was dulled by her hair, which was so bright red it was almost blood-coloured. He knew her, vaguely. She was in their year, and her name was some kind of flower, but he had no clue which one. Remus stepped forward, very slowly, and she snapped her eyes to his face.

"Miss Evans… maybe you should calm down…"

James started to let himself relax as he recognised Remus in peace-maker mode, but her eyes narrowed, and she seemed to bristle like a huge, furious red cat.

"_Don't-"_ The words were clipped and short, and her jaw moved stiffly, "-Even talk to me, you bloody _coward._"

Remus flinched, and Sirius jerked in anger, but she merely pressed his own wand harder against his skin. Evans turned back to him, and whatever Sirius saw in her face made him freeze.

"You." -James suddenly realized where the saying about red-heads and tempers came from, because this girl was fucking _scary-_ "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't Charm your ears to your chest with your own wand and then beat you _senseless_ for this stunt."

Sirius was somehow brave, or stupid, enough to answer, "-had it coming, little brat-", then yelped as sparks jumped from his wand, the same colour as Evans' hair and stingingly hot. He managed to half dodge away, but she merely repositioned his wand so it hovered under his nose. She moved it forward, making his head tilt back to keep it from touching him again.

Peter was frozen feet away, hands twisting nervously, and Remus was still standing close by, face flushing. Sirius and James himself were definitely out of action, and James suddenly found himself wishing that a teacher would come along, embarrassing as that would be, to get them out of this. There was a ripple in the crowd, and he strained his eyes to see who it was, but it was merely Grace and that other girl with glasses, Emmaline, both Evans' friends. They stopped, Emma looking horrified and Grace amused.

"Lily, are you sure that's wise?"

Lily didn't turn to look at them, merely glared at Sirius. James wondered if she even knew he was still here and if he could run for it. Sirius' wand was glowing, and her own was heating up against his throat. _Please, teacher please._ Sweat was dripping into his eyes behind his glasses, because he had just realized that Evans was the best in the year at Charms and pretty damn good at everything else as well, and could easily enchant him and Sirius, and probably Remus and Peter, into next week before anyone could move.

"Lily, seriously." Grace was laughing still, but now slightly too high-pitched to be as casual as she was acting. "You've got James Potter and Sirius Black at wand-tip here-"

"Yes, I know." Her voice had lost some of the red-hot rage and was now just coldly angry, which was somehow worse. "Just like I know that on the floor right now is Sirius Black's brother Regulas who is a _first year_, and has probably spent the last week in a fit of panic because this is Hogwarts, after all, and he's grown up on stories of what his father and brother did and do here and so to make himself feel better and maybe show off to his new friends who he still doesn't know very well he decided to prove that his big brother is _the_ Sirius Black and will at least acknowledge his existence in the corridors when he says hello. And-" Evans laughed, though there was absolutely no humour in the sound. "And do you know what actually _happened, _Grace?"

Sirius was glaring for all he was worth, but he was flushing red, and James was feeling a tight ball of shame curl up in his gut at Evans' words. The surrounding crowd, who at the time had either ignored what was happening or laughed along with James and Peter and Remus' little indulgent smile, were muttering or looking at the floor or downright glaring at the four of them now.

"He gets an _OWL_ _level spell_ to the gut, and while he's curled up on the floor he can hear his brother and his friends and, hell, a whole corridor all_ laughing at him._"

Lily was breathing hard, but when Sirius' words filtered through her rage, she went strangely still. Silently, in his head, James willed his best friend to just _shut up_.

"He insulted me-!"

"He did not." Out the corner of his eye, James saw Remus whisper to Peter, who bolted off down the corridor, trying to barge past people and failing, but moving away, and hoped like hell he'd gone for help. "He asked you why you were walking through the halls with a Potter, because if what Grace told me is true, your families don't really get _on,_ do they Black? And frankly, as both your parents, Black, appear to be _not very pleasant_ people it's no wonder he was a little concerned. If you're so insecure in your choice of friends that you feel you have to hex your _little brother_ when he points out it's just a _bit_ odd, what the _hell are you doing still hanging out with them?_"

While Sirius was spluttering she turned her head to James, making her red hair stream out behind the movement and he noticed, in a strange, cut off from reality fashion, that her eyes were a strong emerald, green, and she was really, quite pretty…

"While _you_ are just an arrogant bully who is paralysed in fear the moment he isn't in control of the situation." Evans' grinned a feral, scary grin, "Like now, for instance… and Peter doesn't know any better than to follow along, _you,_ Remus Lupin, are a prefect and should damn well have done something."

As she turned on Remus, both Sirius and James moved, because they were horribly protective of Remus, and knew he had already, in the last week, been torn between his friends and his responsibility as a prefect.

"Well, as you seem to be doing his job for him Evans, I don't think-" James tried to keep his voice light and charming, but felt, when she didn't even look at him, that he failed miserably.

"Can you remember what that's _like_ Remus?" Lily's voice had gone conversationally pleasant, and Grace and Emma buried their faces in their hands, which was really not comforting. "Can you remember _your _first week? Because _I _remember looking at you and thinking, every time I saw you, 'Thank God, there's someone who looks just as lonely and scared and unsure as me'. Well, Mr Lupin, that is just what _young_ Mr Black here was feeling, and he got all his insecurities shoved down his throat and then kicked while he was down. And, like _older_ Mr Black here, if you are so worried about your friends leaving you that you just stand there and let them _bully_ a _child_, then you really don't deserve any."

Lily suddenly dropped both her arms, and Sirius' wand, and he and James both shivered in relief. She gently poked Regulas with her foot.

"Get up."

He shot up, red with embarrassment, and glared at Lily.

"I didn't ask for your help! I didn't-"

She didn't look at him, or any of them, and Regulas went quiet. She patted his head absently. Remus was staring at the ground, James at the wall above everyone's heads, and Sirius had his head forward and his eyes shadowed by his fringe. Lily twirled her wand through her fingers, like she wasn't quite sure what to do next, and James realised that all her anger had been burned up. Finally, she glanced down at the still furious Regulas.

"You alright?" When he didn't answer, she shrugged. "Fine. Get out of here before I kick your shin."

For some reason, that managed to send Regulas scurrying into the crowd with a slightly shell-shocked expression, where, to his and James' surprise, several people patted his shoulder or stopped him to check for bleeding head wounds. Lily sighed and ran a hand through her red hair, messing it up.

"Right then."

She rolled her shoulder, pocketed her wand, and turned back to her friends, but Sirius suddenly reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him until he could whisper furiously in her ear. James couldn't hear what he said, but whatever it was had her turning and slamming the base of her palm onto the bridge of his nose just as Professor Slughorn forced his way to the front of the crowd in front of a cringing Peter.

* * *

"What did you _say_ to her?"

They were all in McGonagall's office, where she had left them with the furious command "**Stay**," and then stormed out like the sight of them all made her too angry to think of cutting remarks about their intelligence. Lily Evans was sitting as far away from the others as the room would allow, but James and Sirius, whose nose was still slowly bleeding, and Remus were sitting close together. James and Sirius were talking quietly, but Remus was just sitting still, blankly staring at the wall.

Sirius turned a white, disbelieving face to James.

"I… I really didn't mean to. It was just… her mentioning my _parents_… in front of half the bloody _school_. Knee jerk reaction I guess." He blushed; looking so un-Sirius like that James was getting seriously worried. "I said my brother would be less than grateful for her help and then… I… I called her a…" his voice lowered, "a… mud-blood…"

Both James and Remus stared at him, shocked and slightly offended.

"You! You called her a… wait, she's muggle-born? Whoa." James whistled under his breath and glanced over at the silent red-head. "She's good. And scary. But mostly good."

"She's right too." They both glanced at Remus, knowing exactly what he was talking about. Sirius looked away, but patted Remus on the back gently. James felt very uncomfortable as he recalled what Lily Evans had said to him, because he _had_ been terrified by her anger. He was almost glad when McGonagall swept back into the room, because it meant he could stop thinking while she yelled.

Only she didn't yell.

"While I am quite grateful for Mr Pettigrew fetching the first teacher he found, I do wish it had been me and not Professor Slughorn. He will no doubt subtly wave this in front of my face for the rest of the year. _Both_ of Gryffindor's new prefects in my office within the first week."

James and Sirius winced. Disappointment, they had discovered over the course of their career, was much harder to deal with than outright furious. If Evans wasn't here dirtying her perfect track record, James suspected that McGonagall would have been yelling till their ears bled.

"Professor." Lily was still stubbornly staring at the wall, but she spoke with hard confidence. "Remus wasn't involved. He sent Peter to find a teacher and stayed to keep an eye on things. It was just me and Potter and Black."

McGonagall sent her a calculating look for about half a minute then nodded.

"Alright Mr Lupin. Off you go."

Lupin would, James knew, wait outside the door for them. Probably along with Grace and Emma and Peter, who had all followed them from the corridor.

"Now then. While I am sure that Potter and Black both deserved to be held up at wand-point, and while I do commend your quickness to take your prefect duties seriously Miss Evans, I must ask that you stick to simply hitting your opponent's weak spots with your knowledge of the inner workings of their minds and your grasp of the English language rather than actually hitting them."

They all stared at her. Professor McGonagall smiled, thinly.

"Several of the witnesses I spoke to commended you on your worrying ability to reveal people's insecurities and crush their self-confidence with words."

Lily blushed, and next to James Sirius clenched his knuckles.

"Now, if you had merely left off at threatening magic but not actually using it, I would have merely told you to carry on and good luck, but what on earth did Black say that made you attempt to break his nose?"

As the two of them stared at Lily, James knew Sirius was feeling the same sink in his gut that James was. If she told McGonagall what Sirius had said…

"It was nothing, Professor. I overreacted."

By the way her voice was perfectly even and had no emotion at all she clearly thought she hadn't overreacted, and that Sirius deserved everything he got. James silently agreed because some things, to him at least, were just unforgivable, but he admired her unwillingness to rat them out. McGonagall obviously didn't, she drew herself up, and James braced for the inevitable yelling, but Sirius spoke first.

"I questioned Evans' parentage." He was forcing the words out, feeling that he had to now Evans had tried to shield him _and_ got Remus out of trouble. "Because she questioned my handling of my brother."

It took McGonagall about four seconds to get what Sirius was saying, but when she did she said softly and dangerously, "Evans, out. Remember what I said. Now." As Lily scurried for the door, James and Sirius glanced at each other out of the corner of their eyes and winced as McGonagall turned on them.

* * *

James had been right. As soon as both prefects were out of both her office and trouble, McGonagall had really let them have it. They had been nearly an hour in her office, and Remus and Peter told them, when they finally left, that they had heard most of it through the door.

They were halfway down the corridor when Sirius turned to James and said "Right." in a businesslike tone and rolled up his sleeves. Guessing what was coming; Remus reached over and pulled his sleeves back to his wrists.

"No. Sirius we are not pranking Lily Evans."

"Why not?"

Remus rolled his eyes.

"She didn't really say anything _that_ untrue, and Padfoot, yesterday you didn't even know her name, she was 'that girl whose head is always on fire'. I heard you call her that. To her face." James winced. "I'm actually surprised, given her performance earlier that she didn't blow up at you back then as well."

"She was probably ignoring it and just feeling more than normally ticked off with us Marauders when she saw Sirius and Regulas." James stretched, considering the way her eyes had glowed when she turned on him and finding he liked it just a little bit too much.

"Well, he did have it coming. I'd hexed him at some point this term. I can't stand him for a month over the summer, yet alone a whole year." Sirius' face turned dark again. "But she didn't need to yell at _you, _Moony. We need to pay her back for that at least."

Peter smiled gently. "She came up to us when she left and apologised. And she hugged Remus when he said he was fine with it and probably needed the kick up to arse to remind him he was meant to do something about stuff like this." Peter looked thoughtful. "She hugged me too, and I didn't even hear what she said about me."

"And-" Remus led them through an invisible door along the shortcut to Gryffindor Tower. "-She managed to shame most people onto her side when she reminded them about their first weeks at Hogwarts. If we prank her now, we'll look like bad losers and reinforce what she said about us. Seriously, we mess about because we want people to laugh, not because we want to make their lives hell. We can't really do anything to her now, not for a while."

Sirius sighed. "Yeah. Your right, as usual." He kicked the wall moodily. "We do it for the shits and giggles, not to hurt people. Mostly. I've a feeling soon some of the Slytherins will be asking for it. Malfoy and my cousin, _Bella-_" he spat the name, "-and Snivellus."

"That's another thing." Said Peter, "She's friends with Snape. Since first year I think."

James and Sirius shuddered.

"No wonder she has a high tolerance for idiots." Remus widened his eyes in mock admiration. Sirius punched him, and turned to James, grinning evilly.

"I've thought of the most awesome way to annoy Snape, ever."

"I'm listening." He wasn't really. James was thinking of earlier, because her hair was still twirling past his eyes in his memory and she seemed far too much a Gryffindor to be friends with such a Slytherin-like Slytherin…

"She was _awful_ cute. And her hair is… nice, when you get used to it blinding you. And she hugged Remus _and _Peter-"

"Brave girl." Laughed Remus, before ruffling Peter's hair.

"-I'm starting to feel left out. Maybe when she's calmed down tomorrow we can-"

"I've just realized where you're going with this." Remus looked slightly horrified. "You're going to act like you're really sorry and try to get Evens to go out with you, which will never-! James!"

James had suddenly snapped back into the conversation and turned around to slam Sirius against the wall.

"You-" He growled, right up in Sirius' face. "Stay _away_ from her. Got it?" He suddenly turned and glared at the other two. "_All_ of you. Got it?" He dropped Sirius, who dusted down the front of his robes.

"Sheesh, Prongs, we got it. What's your problem?"

"I've been thinking…"

"Novel." Muttered Sirius.

"And I think… I think I'm going to marry her."

* * *

You can just imagine Sirius' reaction to that hey? lol.

This is what i think would have happened to make James notice Lily, cos she would ignored him otherwise and he wouldn't have bothered to get to know her unless she did something interesting like threaten him. Quite well really :)

In my mind at least, Lily isn't that lovely, gingery orange colour you see, that's the colour of the Weasleys. _Lily _is a true **red**-head. Like, really, _really_ red. Like someone got crimson paint and tipped it on her head when she was little and it stuck. And as she wasn't all that interesting to the boys before this, she was just 'that girl whose head is on fire'. But now she's 'that girl james wants to marry who hates his guts and has a flaming head and oh god she killed Sirius'. (at least till seventh Year ;) lol)

I might continue this as a bunch of one shots, cos i've got some ideas and stuff. But i also have an idea for HP next generation with Lily and Hugo and Rose and Albus and maybe a lit of new!James in there as well, but nothing might happen with that. I'm so lazy... :'(

Enjoy!


	2. Breakfast, Lunch and Potions Class

Hello again.

I would like to take this opportunity to say I own none of J. K. Rowling's characters, that all events in this story have been though up by me, and that Whistle Grass makes that thing you can do with your thumbnail and a thick blade of grass (you know the one, everyone does, right?) look _silly._

Also, sorry if this confuzzles your inboxes, there was much confusion and hilarious misadventures in its uploading.

Look there's Witty Banter!

* * *

"Evans you are _paranoid._"

Lily stopped staring at the doors to the Great Hall and turned to meet the amused eyes of her friend.

"_Yes_ I'm paranoid."She leaned her head on her hands and whined at Grace. "You'd be paranoid if all four Marauders were out for your blood."

"Grace did try to warn you Lily," said Emma gently, "You should have realised that threatening both Sirius Black and James Potter would land you in more trouble than you can handle."

Lily glared. "I handled them yesterday."

"You were angry." Grace unfolded her Daily Prophet with a _snap_ of thin paper. "You're scary when you're angry. You also act without thinking. Like we are always telling you dearest fool, actions have consequences." She flicked through to the crossword. "For all that you complain about the four of them you act just as impulsively sometimes. What's a five letter word for defence?"

"Shield. And yesterday was not an impulsive action. I thought long and hard about what to do."

"Hmm." Grace glanced at Emma, and they both smiled. "Maybe about what to hex them with Lily, but not what they'd do to you afterwards." Grace sighed as she continued. "Don't fret about it too much; you'll not be in suspense for much longer. They just walked in."

"What?" Lily glanced round wildly, easily picking out the four boys moving towards the Gryffindor table. "Crap!"

"You know Grace," muttered Emma, "It may be in our best interest to take a short vacation from eating from Miss Evans. It could prove bad for our health."

"If you leave me now I will hunt you down and, _trust me_, whatever they-" Lily jerked her head at the four boys coming closer, "-do to me will be nothing to the pain I _will_ inflict on you."

"Alright," Grace held up her paper so it hid both hers and Emma's faces, "Just watch yourself. Looks like they're heading for those seats just down from us."

Lily was not regretting stopping Sirius from bullying his brother. No matter how annoying, younger siblings should not be bullied and injured. Ignored was still bad, but preferable, and, in Lily's opinion at least, Sirius should have just laughed and carried on. No, Lily was regretting, fiercely and deeply, stopping him in the particular manner that she had. Public humiliation never sat well with people who publicly humiliated other people, Lily knew from years of having the strangest hair colour in all her school and dealing daily with people who hadn't heard of red-head temper. Add into the mix threatening James Potter and attacking Remus, and Lily was serious trouble.

Her hand strayed, under guise of scratching her shoulder, to where her wand was tucking into her top pocket. Across the table, Grace sniggered, but Lily's whole attention was on the four boys now claiming the four seats down the table from her and her traitorously amused best friends. Dropping her hand, clutching the smooth willow tightly, into her lap, she picked up her cold toast and nibbled on it.

James and Sirius put their head close together, muttering, and Remus and Peter, listening in, glanced across at her. As Black turned towards her, Lily tensed, expecting anything…

"Morning Evans!"

Except that.

* * *

Breakfast had gone rather well, thought James. Lily Evans had responded to Sirius' salutation with a only a half-hearted wave, true, and she had been twirling her wand through her fingers again as she held up her hand, but she had not left, or yelled, or even glared in their general direction. She had only talked to Remus, and not at any great length, but it was still something, right?

"Right?"

Sirius managed to look pityingly at James through his snigger.

"Seriously, James, this has reached a new level of pathetic. Yesterday, you didn't know her first name, and today _you're _panicking because she refuses to acknowledge your existence."

"You didn't know her name yesterday either." James sulkily kicked the floor as he walked, scuffing the large tiles.

"_I_ don't want to _marry _her, Prongs. And I am certainly not going to forget her name again. It's been imprinted on my brain through fear." Sirius shuddered dramatically, "Are you sure it's not just Stockholm syndrome?"

Remus rolled his eyes, "She barely held him up five minutes, Pad."

"What are you talking about?" James glanced from one to the other, completely lost.

"'Stockholm syndrome; where the kidnapped falls in love with the kidnapper due to mentally coming to depend on the kidnapper for safely,' mentioned in _Serious Muggle Crimes and Their After-effects_ by Nicolas Sennis. I nicked it off the shelf in Muggle Studies last year and read it in lunch."

"God Moony, even when you're playing up you're still a swot. How come you knew, Sirius?"

"I was seriously bored alright? Besides, you were flicking paper with Pete."

"Yes," Remus glanced slyly at James, "You hit Lily right between the eyes when she got up to ask for the brown sauce."

James groaned and turned to lean his head on a wall in defeat. "She seriously hates me, doesn't she? I hit her with paper, enrage her into threatening people, _and_ she completely ignores me at breakfast. She hates me."

"It's not as bad as all that, James," Peter looked up at the ceiling, all innocence. "It's more that she is totally indifferent about your existence. You might as well not be here and her life would change very little."

"Except that it might be more enjoyable." Sirius muttered, and he and Peter started laughing, "I'm sure the two of you will have a long and happy life together James."

"Alright, enough torture." Remus threw a comforting arm round James' shoulders. "Let's talk about this in Charms yes? I'm sure we can work out how to get you in Lily good graces."

* * *

"This is so embarrassing."

"What's the matter now, Prongs?"

James didn't even turn his head to look at Remus, who was the only one of his friends not cracking up at his pathetic life.

"I can't stop staring at her hair."

Sirius had to stuff his fist in his mouth to stop himself from laughing. Even Remus had to turn away to hide his grin. James glared at all of them.

"You just don't understand. Seriously, this is as embarrassing as hell. She threatened to _kill me_ yesterday and now I can't stop looking at her hair. It's just so... so..."

"Blinding?" suggested Sirius. "Offensive to the eye?"

"Mr Potter!" Professor Flitwick rapped his wand on the front of his desk, "Mr Potter, please stop beating Mr Black with you book and get on with the set work." At the sight of the two boys, one frozen in the act of raising his arms in defence, the other in bringing a textbook down, _hard, _Flitwick sighed and motioned to the blackboard. "The work is right there, gentlemen. Five points please, and don't let it happen again."

Remus, after five minutes of furious scribbling, lent over and looked James in the eye.

"What are you feeling James?"

"What?"

"You say you can't stop looking at Lily Evans. What are you feeling when you look at her?"

"Umm..." James glanced at her bent head, on the other side of the classroom. "Nervous. And... light-headed. And happy. And... my stomach goes empty-feeling."

"Fascinating." Remus leaned back in his chair, pressing his fingertips together. "You're screwed."

"What?"

"Well, you're obviously interested in her, right? Despite the whole held-up-at-wand-point thing, and, sorry about this James, but her hair _is_ rather uncomfortable on the eyes if you look at it unprepared. All this points to you maybe actually genuinely liking her, though you know nothing about her and she knows nothing about you and she's a prefect and responsible and you are anything but... and from what I've observed of the sixth and seventh years, actually genuinely liking someone means arguments in the Great Hall at dinner, PDA and being laughed at behind your back."

"What's PDA?" asked Sirius, leaning across James.

"Public Displays of Affection."

Both James and Sirius looked slightly horrified.

"Like... like Amos Diggory and and that Hufflepuff girl whose name begins with 'J'? They break up and fight and then kiss in the Entrance Hall and Hogsmeade High Street all the time, and they hold hands."

"Yes, Sirius, like them."

"Mate," Sirius slapped James on the back. "I'm sorry, but even five years of friendship will not stop me from laughing at you here."

"It's not so bad." Peter looked up from his note-taking. "Evans probably won't even _want_ to hold James' hand right now. She's still angry, and I think she thinks we're going to prank her or something." Peter flicked his eyes up and met Lily's just as she glanced at the four of them. "She's been looking at us for most of the lesson, and she's doing the wand thing under the table." Lily did indeed have her wand in her hand, and it was dancing through her fingers fast enough to be a blur. "I think she does that when she's nervous."

"What I think James should do-," Remus leaned farther back in his chair, causing it to creak, "-is wait until she's calmed down and is no longer suspicious. And, I dunno, maybe be a little nicer to her? Hold open doors, say hi in the corridor, that kind of thing. Oh, and James, when she's struggling back from the library with far too many books _don't_ offer to carry them for her and then drop them on purpose."

"Why would I do that? That's just mean."

"You did it last year."

"Noooo..." James thumped his head down. "This is so unfair. How come none of you are going mental over a girl?"

"I like Maggie Clearwater. But she thinks I'm annoying because I keep asking her questions in potions."

Remus, James and Sirius all looked at Peter. Sirius leaned across James so he was closer to Peter.

"You kept that very quiet."

"I knew you'd take the piss out of me if I told you. But now James is in a far more amusing situation so I can tell you without fear, your mockery is concentrated on him."

"Traitor." James lifted his head to glare. "How come you're so calm about it?"

"I'm used to it. Besides, I think she's warming up to me. Yesterday she asked if I needed help before I even got stuck. So I pretended I had no idea so she'd talk to me."

"See, why can't I be like that? Everytime I so much as look at Lily I panic because she hates me."

"You don't even know that for sure James." said Remus. "And what you're feeling is new, you haven't had any time to adjust. This time next year you'll look back at this and laugh at how bad you were panicking about Lily hating you."

"Yeah," Sirius snickered. "You'll be used to it by then."

"Shut up Padfoot. So be nicer to Evans until she is no longer scared of me. Then what?"

Remus looked slightly panicked.

"I guess you ask her on a date or something. The sixth year girls always look really happy when they go to Hogsmeade with a guy."

"How do you know so much about this?"

"Yeah, Moony. Why do you spend so much time looking at the sixth years?" Sirius laughed at Remus' blush. "Aww, I reckon Mr Moony is a secret romantic."

Remus was saved from answering by his chair tipping up as he leaned farther back.

"Okay." James was feeling a lot better about this whole thing. "Be nicer to Evans-"

"You could try calling her by her first name." suggested Peter.

"-don't drop her books again-"

"She probably never let you carry again them now." Remus called from the floor.

"-and ask her to go with me to Hogsmeade. We can go get butterbeer and look round Zonko's and look at the Shrieking Shack and scare each other because it's the most haunted place in Britain-"

"But that's just Moony. And soon it won't be, once we get this transforming thing down properly. We'll keep him company." Sirius was now folding origami cranes out of his notes. "Oh, don't forget Madame Puddifoot's!"

"-and avoid that place like the plague."

"That sounds very good James." Remus pulled himself and his chair up from the floor under the glare of Professor Flitwick. "But remember first you have to be a little nicer to Lily."

"I can do nice. My parent taught me manners. I can bow and everything. And waltz."

"I doubt Lily will dance through corridors with you at this point."

"Don't worry, James." Sirius sent his cranes flying into the air by blowing gently on them. "I'll dance to Divination with you," His origami drifted for about half a metre and then fell to the floor. "Damnit. I still can't get that to work."

James started folding a piece of his own parchment into a paper flower. It was a little wonky, but recognisable. "None of you look at Evans okay?"

"What? Why...?"

James blew on his own paper, but kept it in his fingers for longer before letting it go. It drifted, slowly, like it was floating down an invisible river, until it came to rest gracefully on the desk in front of Lily. She looked at it blankly, then twisted in her seat, but the four of them were carefully staring hard at their notes. Lily looked round the classroom for a moment, then she turned back, and finally picked the paper flower up. She carefully tucked it away into her bag. James closed his eyes in silent triumph.

"You know," said Remus, disbelievingly, "Prongs might make this work."

* * *

It had taken the whole of the five days from Monday to Friday lunchtime for Evans to stop looking at James and Sirius like she was afraid they were going to attack her. Both of them, Sirius only after excessive pleading, had smiled at her whenever they made eye-contact, but for the whole week she had looked at them with suspicion and her hand in her wand pocket. The one time James had been in a position to hold open a door for her, she had refused to go through and looked at him like he was mad. This had gone on for some time, until James began to feel uncomfortable and Grace had sighed and pushed past first. Grace had looked at James, smirked, and winked at his red face. He had had a feeling she might know something of what he was trying to do.

Now it was Friday, and just as James was entering the Great Hall for lunch and she was leaving, book-heavy bag on shoulder, he caught her eye, still unfamiliar with the rush the thought _hey-look-it's-Evans_ gave him. He paused in mid step, about to go past her, she was standing to one side to let them in, and he looked her straight in her green eyes and smiled his (in)famous smile that said 'I've just thought of something really _brilliant'._

And she smiled back.

It was tentative at first, but when his smile blossomed into a fully fledged 'something really _brilliant_ has _just happened_' grin she grinned as well, and James found that he would have been quite glad to just stay there in the doorway, but she suddenly said-

"You realise you're just standing there on one leg?"

James looked at her, down at his feet, one of which was indeed hanging off the floor, and then back to Lily Evans, who was still smiling. He grinned again.

She laughed, and moved past him, and to avoid knocking into her James had to move two steps back, and when she had gone he just stood there, grinning like a fool.

"Potter! Black!"

"Professor!" Sirius leapt forward and held out his hand for McGonagall to shake. "How nice of you to stop by... we're a little busy at the moment but I'm sure you can make an appointment-"

"The two of you-" McGonagall was ignoring Sirius' hand completely, "-have detention in my office Saturday and Sunday night. And the Saturday and Sunday after that." She drew herself up and looked James hard in the eye. "After that we will see. Seven o'clock, both of you. Mr Lupin, please-"

"I'll make sure they go Professor." Remus sounded horribly tired about the whole thing. As McGonagall turned and left, shaking her head, Sirius laughed.

"Good thing it happened on a Monday, right? We got out of detentions for a whole week."

"Padfoot, that was so you could do your homework." Remus rolled his eyes, but sounded far more cheerful.

"Wait, we had homework?"

"_Sirius-"_

James just stood there, feeling the bubble of happiness rise up in chest and burst in his throat so he had to, _just had to_, laugh out loud.

"Did you see...? She just... Lily Evans just smiled at me!"

* * *

Lily was feeling a lot better about the whole thing.

It was already nearly five days since she had attacked three out of four Marauders and nothing yet had happened to her. Sirius Black and James Potter had been smiling at her sinisterly all week, making her doubly uncomfortable, and she had put down their odd behaviour to psychological torture until Grace told her she was being stupid and they probably just wanted to apologize. She had, however, been grinning oddly as she said it, and stressed the word 'apologise' in a really weird way. But James holding open a door and grinning even when she laughed at him had convinced her that he, at least, wanted to forgive and forget.

Forgetting was seeming very appealing to Lily right now. The attention two of the Marauders were paying her, and she was sure James was actually going out of his way to pass her in corridors and smile, was not going unnoticed. It was making Severus moody, which she hated. He was moody now, and was stirring the, _oh irony, _Cheering Draught they were making, _just too easy,_ with angry, short strokes.

"It says here that the optimum Cheeriness of the potion cannot be achieved if the stirrer is acting like a moody-"

"It doesn't say that Lily."

She blinked, stung by the dismissal in his tone when she had just been trying to be funny and make him laugh.

"Fine." She turned back to her book. "Fine then."

Severus was silent for a minute, still moving the spoon in quick, angry jerks, making the potion swirl.

"I saw you with Potter at lunch."

"Yes."

"You were _laughing_ with him. How could you-"

"No." She cut him off quickly. "_At_ him. I was laughing at him. But really, he was being such a _prat. _You should've seen him, he was just standing in the doorway on one leg. It was hilarious."

"He is an idiot, don't you think?" A tone of slight nervousness, (_please agree with me) _"Potter. He really is an idiot."

It worried her, the way he said Potter's name, bitter and angry. Sure, James Potter had been more than a git to Sev for years, but he had been just as much of one back. Lily had never understood Sev's driving need to act like that when provoked. But then, she was a firm follower in the way of Ignoring Irritating People, and he had always been more of a Arghh Retaliation mindset. Even with her sister, he had always had to say the last word...

Though she sure hadn't ignored anything on Monday.

_But that was different. _She carefully picked three silvery unicorn hairs from her slim bundle. _That was... Sirius shouldn't have acted like that, not towards his brother. Regulas hadn't _done_ anything._ She dropped the hairs into the pinkish potion. _It really ought to be lighter than that, maybe this stirrer business has something in it after all..._

"Hmm." She took the spoon off him, trying to make it look casual. "You should've seen his face on Monday."

"I bet he was _terrified_."

Sev finally laughed, but Lily wished she managed it with something else. She really didn't want to recall the look on James Potter's face, because yes, he had been scared of her, she knew she was scary when she was angry, but as soon as she had started on Remus, his face had gone from scared-with-no-idea-what-to-do straight to scared-but-_damn-well-going-to-help-my-friend, _and he had tried to apologize by holding open a _door_, which was pathetic, but still...

She felt eyes on her back, and turned around. At the back of the classroom, Sirius Black was whispering in James Potter's ear, making him snicker, but he was looking at her. As soon as she met his eyes, the expression on his face went from wicked amusement to cheerful friendliness, and she wondered for a moment if he'd been sniffing his potion fumes, but then Sirius caught her eye as well, and saluted, and James waved. She couldn't help smiling back. She turned back to her own bench, and missed the expression that slid across James' face.

"Who were you looking at?"

Lily didn't look up from her Potions book. "Just Grace and Emma."

"Oh."

_It's really better that I didn't tell him, _Lily thought. _Really. He'd just get funny about it and we'd fight, and Merlin knows I've had enough of that over the summer. Besides, if _I'm _not allowed to complain about who _he_ chooses to be friendly with, then _he_ really has no right to... and he's being so _difficult _about this, what did he expect me to do? Keep on walking?_

Now Lily had taken over the stirring, the potion was exactly the right shade of pink, and she turned her thoughts to the measuring of Whistle Grass, and whether it needed any peppermint.

Everything was better with peppermint, in Lily's opinion.

* * *

Hey look Author's Notes!

(No silly, over here...)

Lily is a girl after my own heart. Everything is better with peppermints. :)

At this stage Lily is still good friends with Snape, but because he's getting annoyed that his worst enemy is paying attention to his... friend who is a girl, he's acting all broody. _Aw. _Their relationship will improve as Snape gets used to the situation, and then it will crash and burn in a mess of fire and debris and a _really angry redhead_. (That's totally gonna be Arthur lol)

Anyway, I would like to point out that Grace and Emma are a (really big) shout out to two similar characters in B. C. Daily's wonderful story Commetarius, a link to which may be found in my favourites. I would also like to point out that anything the Grace and Emma _here_ do has come from _my_ sub-concious and twisted imaginings, and that if anyone has a problem, please tell me. Thank you.

Also, to everyone who reviewed, I think I replied to you all, if not I want to say _oh-my-god-I'm-so-sorry _and thank you for your words. All were helpful if not kind. You and the people who alerted/fav'd this (some of you did both, my goodness) are the reason this has been continued, knowing you wanted to read it made me want to write it.

Enough of these shenanigans! Onwards to people asking other people to Hogsmeade, and detentions, and, you guessed it, even more wand twirling.

(If I had a wand, I'd probably snap it with all the wand twirling I'd do.)


	3. Detentions and Conversations at Dinner

"Evans! Hey, Evans! Lily!"

She turned, and James had to force his eyes not to follow her hair as it flicked over her shoulder. He ran along the corridor to catch up with her, and skidded to a halt in front of her, panting.

"Listen Evans, I just wanted- Oh hey Snivellus. I just wanted-"

"_What_ do you want, _Potter_?"

Lily turned to Snape, who was hiding in her shadow, with a disapproving look, but for once James couldn't have cared less about Snape. _Lily_ wasn't yelling or running away or hexing him, she wanted to _talk_ to him! Or at least listen, but hey...

"Not any of your business Snape. Shut up for a minute." James kept his eyes on Lily's face. "I _want_ to talk to Evans."

"You can't borrow my potion notes."

The two boys stared at her.

"Well...I mean...I _would_ let you...at least, I _think_ I would..." she was going an embarrassed pink colour. "But Grace already has dibs on them so..."

"That's fine Evans." James grinned. "I have no desire to borrow Potions, Charms, Defence, Transfiguration, History, Astronomy, Divination or Arthimancy notes from you."

"But I don't do Divination or Arthimancy."

"All the more reason not to borrow your notes. They'd be crap." She giggled, and the satisfaction went straight to James' head. "What I wanted to ask you was, well, in two week there's-"

"You never let me borrow your notes."

Lily and James both looked at Snape, and they spoke at the same time.

"What?"

Snape blushed, and didn't look at James. "Your notes...you never offer to let me look at your notes."

"You hardly need to. Besides, you never asked. Why are you bringing this up now?"

"I was...I just..."

"I'd let you borrow them if you _asked._ Hey, I'd let Sirius Black borrow my notes if he asked."

Snape shifted uncomfortably. James looked from his sallow face to Lily's. She looked confused, like she had no idea what Snape was talking about. James did. Snivellus must have seen the noticeboard. He smirked at Snape over Lily's turned shoulder. She caught Snape's glare and looked back to James.

"What did you want Potter?"

James wished she would call him by his first name, but she at least said 'Potter' with _far _less hatred than Snape. He grinned, and tugged his fringe with his fingers.

"In two weeks it's the first weekend to Hogsmeade. And I was wondering if you want to go with me."

* * *

"Go with you." Lily said the words slowly, not sure she'd heard them right. "Go with you to the first Hogsmeade weekend."

Behind her, Severus seemed to be wheezing uncomfortably. Without turning round, she stretched her arm back and patted his back. He started properly coughing, and waved her arm away. She was still stuck staring at James Potter. He was looking expectant. She wondered what she was supposed to say.

"Umm, why?"

James ran his hand through his hair again. She was suddenly reminded of the grin he had thrown her way at lunch, because the exact same expression was on his face right now.

"Because." His hands were now shoved into his pockets, but he leaned forward so his face was closer to hers. "I'd like your company."

She tilted her head to one side, and he copied her. Lily found herself wanting to giggle, because he was still grinning and still acting amusingly silly and still not trying to kill her.

"Why?"

"Why what?" He leaned back and arched a brow at her.

"Why would you like my company?"

"Because-"

"She doesn't want to go with you!"

Severus pushed past her, knocking her down and away from the two boys now facing up to each other. Severus glared up at the taller boy, face twisted angrily. James was looking slightly shocked at his outburst, hands still in pockets, but Lily knew it would only be a matter of time before this turned into a full out duel. She picked herself up as James, now decidedly not grinning, drew himself up, dwarfing Sev.

"And how do you know Snivellus?" James hand was drawing out of his pocket, and Lily could see his fingers wrapped round his wand. "Evans hasn't answered."

Sev went for his own wand, but Lily was quicker than both of them. She jumped between them, facing Sev, and shoved him away from James. _Stupid idiots!_

"For Merlin's sake! Sev, back off will you? I highly doubt that Potter's going to hex me, _or you_." She turned and glared at James behind her. "_Right_?"

He was grinning again, the bloody fool. She resisted the urge to hit him.

"Sure thing Evans. So long as Snake Boy behaves himself."

"He _has_ a name, you know." Lily could feel her back being put up by arrogant confusing males. "So do I. It's Lily."

"I know your _name,_ Evans. Come _on_."

_Arrgh_. Lily took a step closer, hands on hips and glaring. She was strangely gratified when he took a step backwards, hands up in surrender. He suddenly ruined it by laughing. _Prat_.

"What do you want, Potter?"

His gaze clouded, and he went serious. "I meant what I said. I want to know if you'll come with me to Hogsmeade in a fortnight."

"Like on a _date_?"

Lily stared at him, completely lost for words. Severus, however, was not, and he pushed her aside again, harder than before. She squeaked as she was shoved into the wall.

"_She's not going with you!_" He was nearly roaring, face twisted, and James was suddenly just as mad, wand at Sev's throat.

"You little...! Watch where you're shoving people, _Snivellus_!" James hit Severus' chest, forcing him back a pace. "You alright Evans?" As he started towards her, Severus grabbed his arm and pulled James back around.

"_Enough_." Lily stepped forward, pointing her wand at Sev. "_You_ have no right to say who I do or do not go to Hogsmeade with, alright? Not when I don't have the same power over you. So _back_ _off_."

She pushed him, jabbing him hard in the chest with the tip of her wand. Sev slunk back to the edge of the corridor, rubbing his chest.

"And you-" James tucked his wand behind his ear as she addressed him. "Randomly asking me to Hogsmeade...five days ago I was shouting at you in the middle of the corridors! What on Earth made you think I'd go with _you_?"

"I held open a door for you."

"You...you..." Lily gaped at him. "Potter, seriously. That logic is just messed up. I am not going to Hogsmeade with you. I'm going with Grace and Emma, we always go together on the first one, it's like tradition."

"Alright." Merlin, he wasn't even _bothered_. "Mind if I tag along?"

"Yes." He was smirking, the pig. "Yes I do mind. I am not spending the whole of the day with you." Lily turned to look at Snape, "With either of you. You're both just so _annoying_!"

She had to get out of there, before she did something else she'd regret, like hex the both of them. Lily had no idea why James Potter wasn't planning retribution but she sort of wanted him to continue not doing so, and Sev was mad enough at her already. _Deep breaths Lily._

"I'm going to Care of Magical Creatures, which is thankfully free of both of you, so you just...just leave me alone."

Sev tried to grab her arm and pull her back, but she wrenched her shoulder out of his grip and stalked off. He, at least, had enough sense to let her go after that, but James Bloody Potter jogged along the corridor after her.

"So Evans." His voice had gone deeper with amusement. "You sure about this whole Hogsmeade thing?"

"_Yes_."

"Alright." Potter stopped walking, but he sounded so pleased with himself that Lily had to turn round to see if he was still smirking. He was. "I've got two weeks then."

She glared, but he didn't elaborate, just stood there grinning. "Two weeks for _what_?"

"Two weeks to make you change your mind." He turned and started back down the corridor, away from her. "See you at dinner Evans!"

Lily watched him go, blinking in confusion.

"Oh, Merlin..."

* * *

"Well, I asked Marlene to ask Evans' friends why Evans isn't at lunch and _she_ said that _they_ said that _Lily_ said she wasn't hungry. But apparently they think she was lying because she skipped most of lunch to go talk to McGonagall and Grace said that if you're so interested you should ask yourself." "Sirius shot James a dirty look. "That was the saddest thing you have ever asked me to do. Next time you wanna find out where your girlfriend is, ask yourself."

"Evans isn't my _girlfriend_!" James hissed, shocked.

"Didn't you ask her to Hogsmeade though?" asked Remus.

"Well, yeah." James felt his cheeks burn. "But that doesn't make her my _girlfriend_."

"Besides, she turned him down." Sirius calmly sat next to Remus, while James spit his pumpkin juice across the table.

"Well, that's pleasant Potter."

James, Sirius and Remus all looked up, surprised by the new voice, to find Grace and Emmaline looming over the table, Grace foremost.

"Okay, Potter. I have a question." Grace sat down, with Emma hovering in the background. "_Why _did Marley come over and say that _you_ had asked _Sirius _to ask _her _to ask _us _why Lily is not at dinner? Because that's just sad-"

"Thank you," said Sirius,

"-and if you're planning something horrible to do with Lily we _will _pay you back."

"Grace, you said you weren't going to threaten them! And _don't _drag me into this."

"Quiet Emma." Grace didn't even glance at her friend standing behind her. "I'm talking to the suspicious people over here."

"Gra~ace."

"Umm..." James cleared his throat. "Do you guys always go to the first Hogsmeade trip together? I mean, you and Emma and Evans."

"Eh, not really. Well, we did third year, but last year I let Benjy Fenwick come along."

"That little witch!" James yelped, outraged. "She lied to me!"

"What?"

Everyone was looking at him with the exact expression of confusion, except Sirius, who knew what had happened, and he was grinning, so James decided to talk before he could.

"I asked Evans to go to Hogsmeade with me, but she said that she always went to the first one with you guys."

"You asked Lily, _our_ Lily, to go to Hogsmeade with you, _five_ days after she tried to kill you in a hallway?" Grace raised an eyebrow.

"Umm...yes?"

"James, James, James." Grace started shaking her head, and Emma was looking like he had just told the best joke ever. James felt his stomach clench with embarrassment. "I'm afraid it's going to take more than holding open one door to get Lily to stop flinching everytime she sees you and go a_nywhere _with you alone."

"What exactly did you say to Lily, James?" Remus was looking thoughtful.

"I asked if she wanted to go to Hogsmeade with me, and when she said no, I said that that just meant I had two weeks to change her mind." Remus motioned for him to go on, and James ran through his mind for anything else important. "And I fought with Snape for a bit, normal stuff."

"You asked her in front of Snape?" Grace was incredulous, "You were actually dumb enough to..." Grace shook her head. "Listen Potter, Lily's funny about Snape. Me and Emma here are only so-so about him, but Lily apparently enjoys his company. She doesn't, however, enjoy yours because all this week she's been paranoid that you're going to hex her or something-"

"But we smiled at her!" Sirius gasped, "Prongs held open a door!"

"Wow, a whole door." Emma suddenly spoke up, her voice full of sarcasm. "She thought your smiles were threatening, she had to be pushed through the door you held open, and she didn't even talk to Lupin here at the first Prefect meeting."

"I wondered about that." Remus smiled. "She was very nice when I met her on the train. She said that we'd have to sit together and glare at everybody. She was very funny."

James was about to turn on Remus, demanding details, when Emma spoke again.

"It's going to take more than a week of acting nice before Lily thinks you've forgotten and forgiven. She's, you know, weird like that."

"I haven't forgotten. And I'm too scared to forgive." Sirius shuddered dramatically.

"You're actually scared of _Lily?" _Grace laughed. "She's like an angry bunny!"

"You looked pretty worried on Monday." Sirius glared.

"Sirius, quiet." James looked imploringly up at Grace. "Right, Grace, how am I going to Evans to calm down and go to Hogsmeade with me? Or at least let me go with you guys."

"You're not."

James let his head hit the table. "Argghhhhh..."

"You're never going to get anywhere in time for the first weekend, aim for the Christmas one." Grace stood up. "And _James_, you might get farther if you called her Lily."

"Merlin, I _do_ know her name."

"Then call her it."

"I'm..." James chuckled, "I'm not going to call Evans _Lily_. She's... she's Evans."

"You call us by our first names."

"Yeah, but you're Grace and Emma, she's Evans."

"People _can_ have two names." Grace stared at him. "Call her by her first."

"She doesn't call me by mine."

Grace eye-rolled.

"So start the trend." The two started back to their places. "Merlin's pants, _boys_."

* * *

Sirius was singing as they headed to their detention. His voice was alright, and he was singing a good song, so James let him be. He himself was strolling, hands in pockets with a rolling gait that said _confidence. _His best friend at his side and on his way to his first detention of fifth year and James was back on stable, familiar ground.

He pushed open the door to McGonagall's classroom and felt the ground drop out from under his feet.

"No way." Lily Evans, who was sat on the teacher's desk, swinging her legs to _thunk_ against the battered wood, suddenly froze and stared right at James as he was stood in the doorway. "_You're_ the ones I have to watch?"

Her eyes really were _green_, James blinked slowly, he could see the hint of their colour from across a classroom. Her hair was red, but, he noticed, her eyebrows were much darker, nearly black. They drew attention to her face, managing to distract away from the brightness that was her hair.

She jumped down from the desk and, James realised what she was going to do just before she did it, pulled out her wand and started it dancing between her palms.

"This is _just_ like McGonagall. I knew there was something strange about this, fifth year prefects _never_ get asked to oversee detentions!"

Sirius shouldered James out the doorway and flinched at the sight of Lily.

"Ah! Oh, hello Evans. I thought you didn't get a detention off McGog."

"I didn't." Lily glanced at them briefly. "I got told to oversee McGonagall's weekend detentions, and I _knew_ there was something odd because I'm just a fifth year prefect and they never get detention duty. Hades, they don't even patrol the corridors!" Lily turned and kicked the desk. "This is just perfect. What a great way to give _me_ a punishment without it being actually _official_. She should be head of Ravenclaw."

"So... you're going to be watching us?" Sirius either sounded worried or amused, James couldn't decide. "What you going to have us do?"

Lily pointed to the side of the room, where at least a hundred books were haphazardly piled. They were different sizes, and one of the piles was leaning precariously. Some of them looked very old.

"You have to look through and rub out all the doodles and notes in the margins and that. There's a spell you can use."

"We get to keep our wands?" James grinned, there was no limit to the shenanigans Sirius and himself could get up to with wands.

"Yeah, else you can't get rid off the ink. Spell is _Apsentis__._ Basically means, 'be gone', and if you run your wand over the words they'll disappear. Here," Lily grabbed one of the books from the top of a pile and opened it. She pointed at a small drawing of a salmon in one corner. "Try it on that."

She was looking at Sirius, so he pulled out his wand and ran it over the ink. "_Apsentis_" The salmon melted off into thin air.

"Good. You try it." Lily flicked through to a page with a scribbled conversation and nodded at James.

"_Apsentis_"

"Right." Lily pointed her wand tip to tip with James', "_Fixe._" She turned her wand to face Sirius', "_Fixe_."

"Umm..." James' wand had gone warm in his hand, and he could feel it hum through his fingers in protest to whatever Lily had done. "What was that Evans?"

She grimaced. "Sorry. But Professor McGonagall said it was part of the detention. Basically-" Her wand was a blur between her fingers, and her whole body posture screamed unwillingness. "-I just fixed your wands so that's the only spell you can do till I lift it."

Sirius face darkened, and James just knew he was going to test it. Evans did to, because she suddenly spoke to him.

"Don't even try it. What that spell does is put a block at the end of your wand, if you try to cast any magic that isn't _Apsentis_ it'll rebound off the block and bounce back to you. So if you cast jelly-legs or something _your_ legs will turn to jelly." She still held her wand in her hand, now half-raised, "You want to try it out?"

Sirius met her eye for about ten seconds, before backing down with a curse and grabbing the first six books from the closest pile. James followed suit, and they sat next to each other at one of the empty desks. Sirius kept his gaze down on his work, but James could feel him shake with anger. It was uncomfortable, holding a wand that could only do one spell, it threw the balance off, so it felt like James was holding a completely different wand to his own. He found himself cursing McGonagall under his breath, because this was just the kind of thing she'd think up. Lily, once she saw they were going to behave, jumped back up on the desk and pulled out a thick book and parchment and a small, thin black stick. She glanced up at them, but caught James looking at her and sent her eyes quickly back to the book.

James caught the title as she opened it, _Defensive Charms; The Strengths and Weaknesses_, and racked his brain for an essay they'd been set that would need the hefty tome, but came up blank. _There is no way she is reading that for fun._ He stared as she started scratching at the parchment with her black stick. _No one does that. _By the way she was looking at the book, then moving her stick around the paper, she must be taking notes, but she didn't have a quill.

Sirius shoved a book into his arm, so James reluctantly tugged his eyes away from Evans and flicked through looking for doodles or scribbles in the margins. Sirius cheered up about half an hour later when he found a written conversation where decidedly masculine handwriting was asking someone to go out with them, and then, just underneath, curvier, feminine script writing a flat refusal. James didn't look at Lily again, but he could occasionally hear her move or sigh, and her featherless quill rarely stopped moving.

It was another hour before anyone spoke.

"Evans." Sirius sounded flatly disbelieving. "What in Merlin's name are you doing?"

James looked up quickly. Lily was off the desk and picking up a Transfiguration book that was still to be de-scribbled. She didn't answer Sirius, but James could see her cheeks turn red. She opened the book and flicked through a couple of pages. Her wand had somehow become tucked behind her ear, and she now retrieved it and pointed it at the page.

"_Aspentis_."

While James and Sirius watched, she turned over the page and repeated the spell. It was after she muttered "_Aspentis_" for the third time that James spoke.

"This _is _our detention Evans. That means _you _don't have to do anything."

"I know." Lily ducked her head, so her fringe fell over her eyes. "But I've got nothing else to do now-" Her book and parchment, James saw, had been put away, "-and this is my detention as well really. Also," she grabbed another couple of books and sat at the desk next to them. "If I help out then more get done now, meaning you have less to do tomorrow, meaning we might not have to spend next weekend in each other's company as well."

Sirius looked at her, a hint of amusement round his eyes, and impressed. "I'm starting to think that your company might not be so bad Evans."

Lily gave him a _look_ until he coughed and went back to his book. James watched her for a moment longer, then started working again and casually said, "'Bout this Hogsmeade weekend Evans..."

She stiffened and glared at him, but James merely tossed her a careless grin.

"I've been thinking, and as you don't want me to hang around with you, or your friends, or _my_ friends," James watched out of the corner of his eye as she cautiously relaxed again. "Then we'll just have to see if we happen to bump into each other while we're there, hey?"

"Hmm."

She was deliberately sounding uncaring, but James felt a strange sense of satisfaction as she slowly started smiling and he realised she was probably going to stop avoiding him. Sirius caught his eye and winked as James spoke again.

"Besides, there's always the next one."

* * *

hey lookit a chapter.

Bleh, end and start were haaard to write. ¬¬ middle was okay though.

That spell there? You know aspentis? That's actual _Latin_.

Thank you for reviews and fav's. And an extra special thanks to those who reviewed _both chapters, _that was like, awesome-awesome.

Next chapter, Tii~iime skii~iip!

(and peppermints) (and snow) (and James' parents)

see you then :)


	4. In Which Lily has Peppermints And a Hat

James was smart enough to realise when he needed help.

After the initial shock of finding himself staring at Lily Evans' hair from across classrooms and turning his head so fast that it clicked whenever he heard her name, and after the novelty of feeling his stomach flip because he had simply met her gaze or caught her smile in his general direction had gone, and after the nervousness had worn off and he stopped over-thinking every single she did in his presence, James got angry.

Who was Lily Evans, to make him turn this idiotic? Some random, short red-head with temper issues. He had woken up, two weeks after his first detention of the year, the first day of the Hogsmeade weekend, made his sleepy way down to the common room, and felt his legs seize up as he caught sight of her there with her friends. He had stared at her from across the room, and she hadn't noticed.

She had just sat there, talking, and James had felt the horrible uselessness of it all hit him. Lily didn't get short of breath when they passed in corridors, she didn't find herself day-dreaming about spending the day together in Hogsmeade, in the Three Broomsticks or Zonko's or hugging in the main street... She didn't even notice that he was so interested in her. She thought he was trying to _trick_ her.

So then he got angry. And the worst part was that he didn't know who he was angry at.

* * *

"Lily." She looked up from her notes to find Sev hovering by her side. "About next week..."

"You mean the Christmas Hogsmeade?"

"Yes... I was... are you going with anyone...?"

"James Potter hasn't asked me again if that's what you're wondering." Lily knew she was being snappy, but lately Sev hadn't let up about Potter and if he'd talked to her today and if she'd said anything back and she'd had enough. Between the two of them, James and Severus were going to drive her crazy.

Snape twitched, and Lily could actually see him force down a snide remark. She sneered, an expression she'd picked up from years of hanging around him, and turned back to the Goblin Peace Treaties of 1667. He slid into the seat next to her, and after she did nothing he got out his own notes and started working. Lily managed to ignore him for a while but suddenly the silence was too much for her.

"Why does it _bother _you so much?" She ran a hand through her hair. "It's not like anything is... it's not like I'm going to say _yes _to him."

"You're not?"

She laughed at that. "Come _on,_ Sev. James Potter is an immature idiot. I managed to humiliate him and now he's trying to save face by bothering me."

Since ignoring her at the first Hogsmeade trip, to the extent that he had slammed into her in the street and then carried on like nothing happened, James had started to pester her in lessons and the corridors. She had lost count of the times her ink bottle had 'mysteriously' tipped over onto her work, or she had felt rolled up paper hit the back of her head in lessons, he had even tripped her into a trick stair. So far it was just him, but after one infuriating confrontation in the Charms corridor where he denied all knowledge and Sirius stood in the background grinning Lily had decided to simply ignore him. So she learned how to magically clear ink without ruining her notes, and over-developed her ability to ignore any blows to the head and shoulders.

Severus remained annoyingly blind to the fact that she found the sudden interest from Potter irritating, which made it even _more_ irritating because it was starting to strain their friendship. Sev now seemed to find it impossible to have a conversation where he didn't bring up Potter or the horrible things that Potter had done to him over the years. Add that to the fact that he was still smarting, she could tell, from the argument over the summer, even though _Lily_ had been the one to apologise, and Lily was starting to find his company grate more and more on her nerves. If she wasn't careful, they were going to have another fight, and Lily knew her pride wouldn't let her be the one saying 'sorry' this time.

Severus hadn't answered her and, glad that she'd avoided bickering with him, she started working again.

* * *

"You're going to pull my arm off!"

James rolled his eyes at Sirius. "If you would only move _faster_..."

"Moony's not going anywhere James." Sirius tugged vainly at his arm. Peter, wrist clasped in James' other hand, was suffering in silence, unlike Sirius. "And I'm _tired_."

"I am too, idiot." James laughed, tossing his head. "I just spent the night as a-mmf!"

Sirius had dug his heels in, bringing them to a halt, and slapped his hand over James' mouth. "Don't-" He glared, "-be stupid. It comes to something when _I_ have to tell _you_ to keep quiet."

James bit Sirius, making him yelp and pull back his hand to look at it, disgusted, so James pulled again, moving fast so Sirius couldn't stop him again. The three of them burst into the hospital wing, Sirius still engrossed by his hand, and James dropped his friends' arms and moved towards Remus' bed.

He'd sat up when the three of them came in, and now he was grinning, just as high on success as James.

"I can't _believe_," He whispered, "That you managed to keep in form for a whole night."

Sirius sat on the only chair by the bed, so James and Peter jumped on the bed itself, nearly squashing Remus' legs. Sirius ruffled his hair and spoke, straight faced.

"Well, we had incentive. It was stay in form or be mauled by that savage rabbit problem of yours."

"Did you see how high I could _jump_?" breathed James, lost in memory, "And I could _run_. Like, like flying with no broomstick."

"I could smell everything. Even some _emotions_, I think." Peter seemed stunned.

"I could tell what you were all thinking from your body language." said Sirius. He huffed when they looked disbelieving. "What? I _could_."

"I...I could actually think."

James frowned at Remus. "We could think anyway. It was just like being us, but... but wearing different clothes and being able to do different things. Like jump."

"No." Remus looked shatteringly happy. "I could actually... usually, when I transform, it's... I lose my mind. I'm just a beast, and I'm hungry. But when you all came, I sort off... came back. Like_ I_ was the one in control of the beast, not the other way round. I could tell myself what to do. And I remember most of it. Not just bits."

"You're also far less bloody and scratched." Peter was twitching his nose, like he was trying to gather scents. "Anytime you started on yourself Sirius bit you. Or James hit you with his horn things." Peter waved his hands above his head, fingers spread.

"Antlers." whispered James. "I had _antlers_."

"I had great big teeth."

"Moony had those too Sirius."

"Yeah, but mine were new."

"Technically, mine are new every full moon as well."

James could tell that Sirius was just about to start on them, when his watch beeped. He couldn't help jumping, because he'd been half dreading this all week, since he got the letter, but he still got up and headed for the door. The others didn't ask him where he was going, they knew, but he heard Sirius scoff something that sounded like, "Pathetic…" and didn't stick around to hear Remus' answer.

Today was the Christmas Hogsmeade weekend. His parents were coming. Because he had asked them and because he was smart enough to know when he needed help, though it was rare that he asked for it.

* * *

His dad was wearing a pink scarf. And he hadn't even nicked from his wife, no, his dad had actually walked into a shop and bought it. Stood at the checkout and paid for it with his own money without even _trying_ to get the server to believe that it was a present for some one else. He had legitimately bought it for himself. And now he was wearing it. To Hogsmeade. To meet his fifteen year old son. A _pink scarf_.

James was already regretting this.

His mother looked normal at least, though she insisted on hugging him, and trying to tug his hair into shape, which he himself had long ago given up on. She kept an arm round his shoulders as they moved down the street to The Three Broomsticks, which was hard because he was taller than her. James couldn't actually remember what he had written in his letter, it had been scribed in an evening of anger and fury and broken quills and visions of Lily Evans face fluttering behind his eyelids… but it had apparently been garbled or desperate enough to demand an immediate answer and the promise of this meeting.

His mother tucked his scarf tighter round his neck, and brushed some of the snow from his shoulders. James made a token protest but secretly basked in the attention. She turned and fussed with his dad's jacket, and he fussed at hers' till she quit it.

"So James." His dad sounded amused. "We hear you have a bit of trouble with some girl."

"Yeah." James' gaze, travelling the street without a real purpose, caught on the sight of Grace with some boy, leaving Honeydukes. Emma followed them, and James was just thinking, _hey that's odd where's- _when another figure appeared from the shop, wearing a green scarf and matching bobble hat and it took him about three seconds of confused staring before he recognised her.

Lily had tucked most of her hair up under her hat, and James was strangely pleased to know that he hadn't fallen so far to be able to recognise her by her walk or her figure or some other stupid little thing. He still relied on her hair as her defining feature. She was carrying a Honeyduke's bag and swinging it as she walked with her friends and Grace's boy. His dad was asking him for details, James realised, and had been for a little while, and James had a sudden, surprising moment where his body took control away from his brain.

He bent down and, this snow was really bad, it didn't stick, packed himself a rough snow-ball. Barely aware of his mother, who was used to this treatment, ducking, James straightened up and lobbed it, with the skill of Gryffindor's best Chaser, at his target.

"Hey Evans!" He yelled, "Nice hat!"

She turned, of _course_, as soon as he'd said her name, so the snow that was aimed for her 'nice hat', actually hit her in the face.

Her hat still fell off though. As that had been his initial motivation (_her hair was now down around her shoulders in a red wave, peppered with white as the snow on her face melted_), he didn't much mind. Lily seemed too, however, but part of James had been expecting this, he'd been pushing her for months now, and was surprised at long it had taken for her to snap. So he was rather more prepared for what happened next than his father, because he was already ducking out of the way as fast as he could as his dad opened his mouth to ask "What the _hell_ are you doing?", so Lily's angrily cast spell perfectly aimed at the spot where James had _just_ _been_, hit his father straight in the chest.

James had a horrifying instant where he all he could think was _that'smyfaultthat- _before he realised that his dad was in the grip of a perfectly cast, and probably silently cast as well, Petrificus Totalus. His dad, slowly at first, but gaining more and more speed, fell back into the snow. James stared at him for an instant, shocked. Then he started laughing.

His mother was too, and James, doubled over, was dimly aware of Lily sprinting over, hat forgotten. She slid to her knees in the slush by his father, panic on her face.

"Finite Incantatum!"

His dad now unstuck, and the expression on his retired-auror face absolutely priceless, James stopped sniggering enough to reach down a hand to Lily. She took it, and he pulled her to her feet, but then she grasped who he was and ripped her hand away. James felt absolutely, soul-jarringly crushed before his anger reflex kicked in and he decided to re-start making her life hell.

"Nice shot, Evans."

She ignored him. She was too busy helping his mum help his dad up. She was also stammering apologises, but deliberately avoiding eye-contact with James. James' father, once upright, seemed to see the funny side, or got that Lily wasn't exactly in the mood for criticism right now. He patted her shoulder absently.

"There's honestly no harm done." James' dad ignored Lily's stammering. "Really, that was quick. Never saw it coming." He looked Lily up and down, and James saw his eyebrows twitch as they came to her hair. "I take it you know my son?"

Lily blinked. "Wait, you're James'…" She, _finally_, looked at him, but she looked anything but friendly. "I am _so_, _so_ _sorry_." James had the distinct impression she had wanted to add _for_ _you_ onto the end of that, and, by the way his mum was grinning, she did too.

Her friends, still up the street and finding it just as hilarious as James did, called her name. James recognised Grace's shout.

"Oy! Come _on_, Evans! Talk to your deadly enemy _later_!"

James tried to decide whether to grin or wince. True, he was at this moment in time trying to irritate Lily, but he didn't quite want to be her _enemy_. "You should go practise your aim, Evans."

She turned on him, retort forming in her mouth, but his mum jumped in first.

"Maybe you should practise your dodging James. You almost didn't make that."

"Hah!" James tossed his head, watching for Lily Evans' reaction in the corner of his eye. "I can dodge just fine; Evans just can't hit her target."

Her wand, she'd been messing with it between her palms again, poked his chest. He met her gaze and grinned.

"Think you can dodge from here Potter?"

James decided she wasn't joking and tried to slowly back away, because he did not need the embarrassment factor of getting hexed in front of his parents. "No."

"Then shut up about my aim. And-" She reversed her wand so it was pointing _away_ from him and started to turn away. "Do not insult my choice in headwear."

"I didn't-!" But she'd gone, so he stopped what he was about to say. It was probably for the best, blurting out that she'd looked adorable in her green hat wasn't a smooth move. Back with her friends, he watched as she picked up her hat and started away in the direction of the post office. She raised a hand over her head and for a moment thought, (hoped, prayed, sacrificed to heathen gods), that she was waving. But then a soft weight settled over his head and eyes, and he knew different.

His dad stared at the pink and black hat that had just been magically shoved onto James' head. It had ear flaps.

"James." He said, deadly serious. "Please, _please_ tell me that she's the girl. _Please_."

* * *

Lily dithered. Shifting her weight from foot-to-foot, she tried desperately to talk herself out of it.

"They'd probably think I was rude."

"You already hexed his dad, Lily. Anything you do after that is politeness itself."

Lily decided that the only way to move forward in her life at this point was to ignore Grace. And keep talking to herself.

"They look quite busy."

Emma leaned round her. "They're laughing at James. You should join them. You'd have fun doing that."

"I _did_ apologise before…"

"Go do it again, it can't hurt." Grace's boy looked put out as they all turned to look at him, annoyed. "What? I can't offer my advice?"

"No. Lily just-" Grace shoved her, firmly. "Go, for Merlin's sake!"

Lily let her momentum carry her forward for a couple of paces, then advanced under her own power, until she was finally standing, fidgety and shy, at the table the Potters sat round. James' father was saying, "Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame, James," while James himself was banging his head on the table and fervently muttering, "_Please_ don't start quoting people I've never heard of, just _please_." James' mother noticed her first, and she smiled, friendly, so Lily gathered her Gryffindor courage and spoke up.

"Umm…" _Ignore Potter, ignore Potter, IGNORE POTTER. _"I, umm, I wanted to apologise again, for…" She was blushing; she just knew it, "For earlier…"

Mr Potter merely grinned. He looked a lot like James when he did that, she noticed, and apparently messy hair was hereditary. James had his mother's eyes though, which explained why both he and she were wearing glasses and his father had none. Lily wondered why she was noting all this. James' dad, picking up on her nervousness, relaxed his crooked grin into a calmer smile.

"There really was no harm done. That was frankly impressive, you're quick."

"Umm, thank you…?" Was that right? How _were_ you meant to respond when someone you've attacked merely comments on how _well_ you attacked them and not why you attacked them in the first place? _Every single Potter_, Lily decided, _must be mad_.

On a whim, because she really wasn't sure how to explain what had happened, Lily fished in her pocket and pulled out her pack of Wurple's Everlasting Peppermints. She, shyly, offered Mr Potter one. "Sorry." She muttered again. "I really shouldn't have done that…"

"Pshh." Mrs Potter flipped her hair. "You were provoked." She glared at James, and Lily saw him sink a little in his chair. She decided she _liked_ James' mum. She turned the mint packet to her, and when Mrs Potter had gravelly taken one, returned it to her pocket. James spoke up for the first time since she arrived at his table.

"Don't I get a mint?"

He didn't sound offended, he sounded highly amused, but Lily's hand still went to cover her pocket protectively. "Umm, no." She wished she hadn't left her wand back at the table, her fingers itched. "They're peppermints. Umm, they're _my_ peppermints." The three of them were looking at her oddly, and Lily cracked under the pressure. "They say they last forever but really it's only a couple of hours and I've only got half a packet left and Grace had some annoying boy with her so they'll last even less time and-" Lily paused to breathe, "I really need them to get through this. Also you insulted my hat."

"Oh… kay…?"

Now she was _really_ blushing. Lily could feel her cheeks burn. "Right." She looked down at her feet, wishing she hadn't come over. "I'll just be… going back to…umm. Sorry again."

She walked away, using the amusing walk that occurs when someone really wants to get away from somewhere but also doesn't want it to look like they really want to get away so end up sort of scurrying.

Merlin, James Bloody Potter must be having a field day laughing at her.

* * *

AHHH!

I'm sorry this took so long… really. But with the first chapters I was on a wave of new story motivation and now I've mellowed out. Also, these are really just transitions to the fun bits at the moment; setting up things and all that jazz, when we get farther in I'll probably start writing furiously as I get to the bits I like. :) Thanks to those who reviewed, and I hope you're still sticking around! :D

Well there you go. Hopefully that helped make what James and Lily are thinking a bit clearer, and showed that Lily and Sev are still at odds. Also, I delivered the promised time skip, snow, James' parents _and_ peppermints, go me! Next chapter might be a month, a week, or three weeks and five days, I really don't know. I do however know that there will be one, and when it comes your way it will include:

Lily makes a new friend

Lily tries to patch up an old friendship, with the talking equivalent of a finger plaster on a stomach wound

James sends a letter

James gains a new nickname

(Can I ask your opinion? Is the constant mentioning of Lily's wand-twirling tendencies annoying, or does it work? I find it amusing, which is why I write it, but what do you think?)


	5. Sorry :

Hey, so...

About the next chapter.

A series of (un)hilarious hijinks have conspired to stop me getting it done, though it IS VERY CLOSE. Sort of...

First, I have exams at the moment. Coming from one of the most overtested countries in Europe (apparently) I am currently halfway through my AS-Levels, which make up a significant part of my A-Levels, which I need for University. Yay the English education system!

Also, disaster has struck in that I HAVE TEMPORARILY MISPLACED THE MEMORY STICK WITH THE CHAPTERS ON. I am working, very hard, to find it again, cos it also has some coursework on it. _ so the outcomes at the moment are:

a) Find the memory stick (yay) and get the chapter to you. There's only one and a half scenes to complete, so that shouldn't take too long.

b) Bug my family into an early grave asking WHERE the memory stick is, don't find it, fail at my coursework and life in general and this story fades into slow oblivion.

I'm really not too fond of option b) at the moment, so I'll try to avoid it if possible. In the meantime, I apologise for the delay, (I'M SO SO SORRY. PLEASE FORGIVE ME. T^T) and hope you guys aren't too mad. :)

See you soon! (Hopefully)

Coat.


	6. Nicknames and Making Friends

Things set to happen in this chapter:

Lily makes a new friend, (Technically I lied to you, Lily makes three new friends)

Lily tries to patch up an old friendship, with the talking equivalent of a finger plaster on a stomach wound

James sends a letter

_James gains a new nickname _(FAVOURITE PART)

* * *

"About her hair..." His mum took a slow sip of her drink; eyes on the redhead returning to the table the other side of the crowded room. "Is that her natural colour?"

James nodded, but he wasn't really paying attention, he was trying not to laugh at how quickly Lily had run away. "Yeah. I actually think it's gotten a darker red since first year. It used to be nearly scarlet, now it's a deeper red."

"Hmm." His mother sent his dad a pointed look. "Is she a Muggleborn?"

James looked at his mother, frowning. She hastily backtracked. "Not that that matters. In fact, I'd love to shove it in some of my distant relatives' faces. But her hair is probably a sign of her magic ability, it's an unusual colour."

"No it's not." Put in James' dad, "That trainee auror, Cuthbert Clarence-Cooper, his hair is naturally purple, and I know several people whose hair has natural green or blue in it."

"It's unusual for Muggles. Hair that deep a red just doesn't happen naturally. They get gingers, like the Weasleys, but not actual primary-colour red."

"Gingers are really just secondary-colour orange anyway." James slumped down in his chair, relaxed. "I've never understood why they're called redheads."

His mother smiled at him, but James caught the glare behind the friendly expression and slid further down in his chair. "Now then James," His mother's smile hardened. "Let's talk about this pranking of yours..."

* * *

Lily was avoiding eye contact with everyone this morning. Grace was still tied up in her boy from Saturday, Emma was doing homework in the library, so her eyes weren't even here to avoid, and the only other fifth year Gryffindors at the breakfast table at the moment were Sirius Black and Remus Lupin, and they had to know about her run in with James and family two days ago and she was sure that Sirius was just _waiting_ for a chance to bring it up.

The Monday morning post arrived in a flurry of owl feathers, it was so close to the Christmas holidays that there was much more post than usual, and amidst the confusion Grace's paper landed in her porridge bowl. Lily was just about to fish it out for her, she seemed otherwise occupied, and read it when an owl landed, in a flurry of wings and beaks-in-faces, in her breakfast. It lifted a talon, seemingly horrified at having stepped in her fried egg, and dropped a letter in her lap. Lily, still stunned from the sudden attack, didn't pick up the letter and simply stared. The owl, it was a rather small eagle owl, usually they were bigger than that, tried to hop onto the table but only succeeded in putting the other foot in the mess of her egg on her plate. Feeling sorry for it, Lily lifted it off the plate and gingerly set it on her right arm. Its talons hurt, but school robes were actually designed with owl claws in mind, so Lily's arm wasn't ripped to ribbons.

She got a piece of bacon fat and, feeling horribly stupid, fed it to the owl, who seemed to draw its head back in surprise before blinking and taking it delicately from her hand. Lily didn't try to pet it, its beak was _sharp_, and picked up the letter in her lap. The only thing on the front was her name, in black ink, but the letter was sealed with some sort of crest. It was a bit wonky, and half of it was missing from the sealing wax, put it seemed to be a letter surrounded by fancy spirals. Lily broke it as carefully as she was able with one hand, because the half of it that was visible was very pretty. It was single sheet of paper, with barely a paragraph of writing on it. Lily read it.

_Hey Evans,_

_My mother told me to apologise for insulting your hat and throwing snow and being an arrogant stupid jerk, and as every time I try to talk to you we end up fighting I thought I'd write. So sorry. The arguing is probably my fault as well, so apologises for that too. I would've sent my owl, whose much smarter and better looking than any of the school beasts, but he's off delivering a letter for Sirius, so... I'd apologise for that as well, but I'm boring myself. By the way, can I borrow your Potions notes? Oh, wait, Grace has them. How about Arthimancy? _

_Only kidding, your notes are crap._

_James Potter. _

* * *

Lily was petting a unicorn.

It was huge, bigger than a normal horse, and its horn was easily longer than her forearm and very sharp. Yet she was standing by its shoulder, calming working the tangles from its mane. Lily had touched a horse's mane before, and that hair was tough and sort of grainy, but the unicorn's mane was like silk. She'd been running her hands through the soft hair and suddenly her fingers had caught on a snarl and it just felt odd, that hair so soft had a knot in it, so she tucked her wand behind her ear and started to work it loose. And then she'd found another one, and then another...

She'd tried to move away, but it had followed her, so she was stuck combing. She hoped it didn't decide it wanted its tail done as well.

On the other side of the makeshift paddock, Professor Kettleburn was motioning the boys forward, but making sure he stayed well away himself. As soon as the first boy, Benjy Fenwick, entered the paddock the other two unicorns turned away from the other girls and trotted to the other side of the enclosed area. Lily's stayed still, but put its ears back.

"There look, lads!" The Professor stayed on the other side of the fence. He had a bruise over his eye and forehead from capturing the unicorns in the first place, so Lily could understand why he wanted to stay back. "Miss Evans' seems friendly-" Its ears were back against its head and it was swishing its horn from side to side. "Try and say hello, boys. Fifteen points to the first lad to touch it."

Some of the boys who were more adventurous, stupid or the most sympathetic to the Professor's plight started to move forward. Unsurprisingly the unicorn started to move back, pawing the ground angrily. Surprisingly, it tried to take Lily with it. It turned its head and started nudging her side, gently, but firm enough that she had to move back or be pushed over. Professor Kettleburn seized on the rare chance to teach something without getting attacked.

"Aha! Now then. What you see here, if you girls could just come back here a moment? Thank you… what you see here is a fine example of the unicorn's preference for women and girls. The exact reasons for this are as yet unknown, even the males will rather come to a girl, as you see here…" Wait, so Lily's unicorn was a _male_? Well, _that_ put a whole new perspective on things. "This odd instinct has lead to the belief that unicorns are attracted to virgins-" Oh _Merlin_, now she was starting to _blush. _"But tests have shown that while unicorns _do_ seem to move more towards young unmarried girls-" Now he was rubbing her mortification in her face. "They prefer the company of any woman compared to any man. Young ones are less picky, but develop the dislike quite early on. Now then, regarding the growth of unicorns…"

"Hello Lily Evans."

Lily jumped at the quiet voice. She had been too busy staring at the white neck of the unicorn and, for the second time that day, avoiding looking at anyone. She looked up and met the speaker's eyes.

"Hello Remus Lupin." Lily raised her eyebrows. "Why hasn't my new friend attacked you yet?"

"Dunno. Guess animals just like me. Can-" this directed at the unicorn, which only snorted and shifted his weight more towards Lily, "I touch you?" The unicorn didn't do anything, so Remus started to work at the knots in the bit of mane that fell on his side of the beast's great neck. "You seem to make a habit of befriending male animals." Remus added.

"What?"

"Well, this guy, for one. And that owl who delivered your letter has been following you all day. He's in a tree on the edge of the forest. And I suppose James could count too…"

Lily laughed.

"James Potter is not my _friend_. I haven't so much be_friend_ed Mr Potter as attacked him, his friends _and _his parents with very little provocation. All in the first term of school as well." Lily looked down at her hands, now just running through the tangle-less mane. "I am really sorry about that… and about ignoring you at the last couple of Prefect meetings. I'm… a bit of a coward sometimes."

Remus started to speak, looking incredulous, but Lilt cut across him with a laugh, catching his point. "And yes, other times I'm too reckless for my own good, I know." He chuckled. Meanwhile, the Professor continued to bestow unneeded knowledge about unicorns, merely glad he was teaching without screaming in pain. "Is the owl really following me?" Lily asked. "All I did was feed it bacon."

"Yep."

"Well, damn. Maybe there's something in this male animal lark after all." She shook her head slowly, "I'm not too sure about James Potter, whatever you say, but first an undersized owl, then a unicorn, and now a wild Prefect. What _is_ it about me?"

"Natural charm. A wild Prefect, you say?" Remus had picked up on her teasing and was playing along. "You don't see too many of them around. What does it look like?"

"Well, it's hard to see through this unfortunately placed unicorn, but I _think_ it's one of the rare Gryffindor breed, of which only six have ever been seen…"

* * *

James was heading to lunch with Peter, and they were going to meet up with Sirius by the Charms corridor because he had skipped Divination, and with Remus by the Entrance Hall, because he did Care of Magical Creatures. Simply because he could, James slid down the banister of the staircase to the fourth floor and landed on the tiled floor without missing a beat. Peter hurried along behind him, scurrying down the stairs to keep up.

Sirius fell into step as they moved down the Charms corridor, and somehow between the fourth floor and the Entrance Hall the three of them had started to race down the stairs, with James and Sirius going down the banisters and Peter taking the steep downward steps two at a time. James won, probably because he managed to shove Peter into Sirius and take them both out the running, but as he jumped from the end of the last banister he lost his balance and skidded across the Entrance Hall floor on his side, glasses lost and laughing uproariously. The slightly open door was pushed farther open and James was starting to pick himself up when he heard Remus' voice. He hunted around for his glasses, but his groping hand came up short. Remus was talking to someone, sounding disbelieving.

"That can_not_ be right."

"Ha! Trust me, the actual paper doesn't ask _any_thing about future events, just what the signs would mean and occasionally about some _very_ famous past prophecies and seers, but that's it." Remus was talking to a girl. Remus. Mr Mc-Shy-Muffin. _Talking_ to a _girl_.

"How do you _know_ all this? And alright, that's the written paper, but what about the practical?"

"The practical only counts for twenty-five percent of the actual mark, didn't you know? The main part of the mark comes from the written paper. And in a dark and disused part of the library there is a section completely devoted to past OWL papers." A _smart_ girl, who apparently knew the library like the back of her hand. She had to do Care of Magical Creatures, so that narrowed the suspects down…

"Really? What about NEWTs?" That was just like Remus, James reflected as he started to once again feel for his glasses. As soon as the three of them left him alone, he reverted back into his learning-loving Prefect mode. It was really a very good job that Remus had James and Sirius and Peter around…

"Yep, they're there too. I had a look at one and could actually answer the first question, but after that-"

There was a sudden, horrible crunching sound. James knew it well, and winced as his glasses were once again crushed.

"Ah." The girl's voice was _really_ familiar. James struggled to place it. "Umm... that was probably something important right?"

"Yeah." James sighed as he got to his feet. "Slightly important. Hey Remus. Can you mend those for me? Only I can't actually see…"

"Merlin, James! How long have you been there?" Remus was _very_ shocked, and… slightly wary?

"Oh, I cruised in a little before you did. Leaving, may I add, Sirius and Peter eating my _dust_."

"Ha." The girl again. And then a muttered, "_Reparo_." His glasses were handed, carefully, back to him. Whoever this girl was, she had nice fingers. James put his glasses on.

"Oh," said James.

"Hullo, Potter," said Lily Evans.

And then Sirius and Peter turned up and jumped on him.

* * *

It was really hard to walk when you were carrying three large books and your bag and all your Astronomy notes and two quills, one of which was broken.

Lily reflected that, while maybe the first two tomes had been unnecessary, she didn't really _need_ Doffion Hardlut's _The Milancovitch Cycles and Their Effect on the Accuracy of Star Prediction_, or Harold Puff's _Centaurs Stargazing: True or False?_, the book _Ancient Stars_ by Maggie Brown that, if the blurb was anything to go by, theorized that 'ancient wizards' stargazing and predictions were more accurate due to stars whose light can no longer be seen by Astronomers today', was _sure_ to be useful in an essay on the star signs and the belief that they had effected people's personalities. (She'd been a little surprised that wizards also believed in star signs, but it seemed that there were some things they were even more superstitious about than muggles).

Lily also reflected that she needed to learn self-control in the presence of books, and stop lying to herself.

She spotted a bent, dark head, and made a pleasantly surprised bee-line towards it. Lily slowed as she reached Severus' table, because there were other people's quills and papers spread all over the surface, and frowned as she remembered just who the only other people who would talk to Sev were.

He noticed her hovering in the corner of his eye, and before he could turn his head and ask her why she was staring at him with a frown on her face, she spoke.

"Hey! What are you doing here? Haven't you done all your work?"

Lily loathed, absolutely _loathed_, the way that Sev glanced around the shelves to see who was watching before turning back to her and talking.

"Yes…" He wouldn't meet her eyes, and Lily knew then that this was not going to end pleasantly. "But I'm doing… extra reading. With some dorm-mates."

"Oh, well then, I'll leave you to get on with it. I've still got this astronomy essay to do so…" Lily spoke quickly, hoping that she could politely escape without having to run into any of Severus' other friends. He scowled, not at her directly, but she could tell she had annoyed him by wanting to leave so fast.

As Lily settled at an empty table, she glanced back and saw with relief that she'd been just in time leaving. Mulciber rounded the shelf behind Sev, followed by Avery and, oddly, Bellatrix Black. Lily had seen Sev hang out Mulciber and Avery before, but Black was a new one. It was also scary. But Sev had already warned her off his new friends over the summer, well could she remember the row, so Lily turned back to the work and kept her head down. It was easy, as always, to just lose herself in the words she wrote and the notes and the interesting paragraphs in the textbooks.

The voice, when it came, broke through her concentration like it was thin glass, and she jumped.

"Can I sit here?"

"Sure." She grinned, happier than usual at Severus' interruption because it meant he wasn't talking to the pure-blood prats. "When are you going to stop asking and just sit?" It was an old line, and she often used it too tease him, but today he just collapsed in the chair and closed his eyes, head hung forward.

"Finished your reading?" She tried to keep her voice neutral and light, but he turned on her quickly and with his tongue sharp.

"Why don't you just say, in your _oh_ so _superior_ way, that you think I'm stupid?"

Lily blinked. "What?"

"You think that I can't chose my own friends, and so you dislike them from a distance and won't talk to me when they're around and you just act so… so-"

"Excuse _me_, but I believe we've already had this conversation. Sev, please. I really don't want to have to go through this again."

Her pleading had no effect, he just ignored her. "You're the one who said I should try to talk to some of my house-mates, you're the one who made other friends first, and you're the one who feels they can talk to my enemies. You can't complain about my other friends now and be justified. Can't you just admit that?"

Lily could think of several ways to answer him, including '_hypocrite_', '_yes but not the evil ones_', '_Grace and Emma made friends with _me_ not _me_ with them_', '_what are your friends if not my enemies?_' and '_who has enemies at fifteen?_' but she took a look at Sev's face and wondered how to make sure neither of them went away furious. Severus already was, and Lily could feel the start of her own rage tickling behind her sternum. How _dare_ he?

"No." Lily cut him off with a wave of her hand. "No. I am not doing this with you here. I don't know why you want to pick a fight but I've had enough. We are just agreeing, and this is _the only course of action_ open at the moment, to not talk about your friends, or mine. We never get anywhere." Lily pushed her hair out of her eyes and looked at him. "Alright?"

He met her stare, but a thing about Severus was that he could never properly meet her eyes when she glared, so he just let his own skitter away. "Fine," he muttered.

Then he got up and left.

For the briefest of moments, Lily considered going after him, and apologising (again) and letting the words '_I'm sorry, that was my fault_' (untrue) sooth over the wounds in their friendship. She could see, in her mind, what would happen after that, she'd start ignoring Remus again, and be downright nasty to Potter, and Grace and Emma would silently disapprove as she started falling back into Sev's company completely, and she'd ignore his friends taunting about her parents and blood, and pretend like it didn't matter when Sev didn't stick up for her…

Lily curled her lips up over her teeth as her pride kicked in and she went back to her Astronomy.

* * *

_This is so cool._

The thought ran round and round in James' head, the rest of his human intelligence cut off by the feeling of his four legs delicately picking their way through the fringes of the forest, towards were the last remnants of the fifth year Care of Magical Creatures class. It was the last lesson before the Christmas holidays, and his hooves crunched lightly on the thick snow he could walk on without sinking in up to his knees. Unlike Remus and Lily Evans, who were struggling back to the path leading to the castle and sinking into the white stuff with each step.

He hadn't actually expected Evans to be walking with Remus, but apparently she had gotten over herself and started talking to him again. James had come down to meet Remus, and changed to his Animagus form simply because he could. Now he was slightly more wary about going into sight, and shadowed them from the tree line.

And then he thought, _oh to hell with it._

* * *

"Whoah."

Remus glanced round as Lily stopped and stared. Emerging from the trees of the Forbidden Forest, trotting over the snow towards them, was a stag, head held proudly high.

"Told you." Remus came to stand beside her. "You just attract male animals."

The stag tossed its head, staying just out of reach, and Lily laughed. "Maybe its just here to see _you, _Lupin." Lily tucked her cold nose into her scarf and looked at the deer from through her fringe. "It's a funny colour."

"He." Corrected Remus gently, "See the antlers Evans? And since when are you an expert on deer?"

"Deer are brown. Even _I_ know that. _He's_ black. And he's barely got any antlers at all. He must be young. Look at how skinny he is, as well! Totally a teenage deer."

Remus seemed to be laughing at her. "Next you'll be telling me his name."

"Bambi."

Remus really did laugh then, nearly doubling up in the snow. "_What_?"

"Bambi." Lily said again. "There's a book about a young deer called Bambi. It's muggle, though, so you probably don't know it. And an animated film, now I think about it. That was good, I love Disney."

"You're talking muggle again."

"Oh shut up, you dishwasher. His name is Bambi."

The stag turned his head to one side and _looked_ at Lily. She had the thought that this deer was not your average, common or garden deer but some magical equivalent, which was further reinforced when he shook his head and walked, quite calmly, back into the trees.

"Oops. I think I offended him. Maybe his name is actually something more masculine."

"Lily." Remus sounded deadly serious. "I'm sure he loves your name for him." He suddenly cracked up again. "And I still don't believe 'dishwasher' is an insult."

* * *

GUESS WHO FOUND THEIR USB? OH YEAH! (Does happy dance)

So after clearing all the stuff out my room, sorting it, vacuuming, then putting most of it back in again, giving up hope for a few days, finally deciding to look in the study by my revision materials, moving all the papers, sorting them, giving up hope and then moving my old maths books to put away and looking in the ring binding, I FOUND IT. Oh, and there was much rejoicing. So then I finished the chapter and generally melted with relief.

So, there we go, chapter up, essay back, everyone's happy (woo) and Snape and Lily interaction once again giving me NO END OF TROUBLE. Eughh, even Remus had his moments. The only time I can actually write without occasional pauses is when it's James and Lily together (what does that say about my mental priorities? lol) and this chapter had minimum interaction between the two, so… :( but all the things set to happen happened, that's always good, and I'm just telling you now, I own nothing of Disney, or Bambi, whether he animated or brought to life with words.

Now next chapter is the infamous Severus Snape follows Remus down the tunnel under the Whomping Willow, and apparently this happened in sixth year, but I've looked through book 1, where Dumbledore mentions it, and book 3, where Snape and Lupin mention it, and book 7, where snape remembers talking to lily about it, and I can't find any mention of when it actually happens, so going by the fact that in book 7 it comes BEFORE Snape's worst memory, I'm saying it happens BEOFORE the end of fifth year. If anyone can find any evidence to disprove this, I'll ignore it, because I'm an author and we're obnoxious like that. :B

What long author comments today! Haha, its been along time since I did this so that's probably why :D anyway, see you later!

(THANK YOU REVIEWER PEOPLE, YOU ROCK)


	7. In Which Werewolves and Snakes Meet

"It happened again, didn't it?"

Lily stabbed at her dinner. The part of her mind that was being logical about the whole thing was mentioning hormones and referring to that paper by Professor Linter that was so controversial in the magical medical world at the moment... but most of her mind was a red-hot swirl of rage that wanted, just once, to be able to shoot laser beams from her eyes.

"Yes." She said calmly. "It happened again."

* * *

'It' involved Sev, because most annoying things did these days, Lily could count on one hand the amount of meetings she'd had with him this week that hadn't ended awkwardly, and 'it' also involved Sirius Black.

Grace and Emma were surprised that James Potter wasn't on Lily's hit list at the moment, but really, compared to Sev and Sirius, James was a minor blip on her radar. She didn't automatically look round for a place to hide as soon as she saw _him_ in the corridors, she sped up so she could walk past with her nose in the air, feeling righteous but looking (she knew this) a little ridiculous. Sometimes he would do the same thing, so they stalked mock-angrily past each other, deliberately looking the other way, and sometimes he would pretend that his soul was being crushed by her hard-heartedness (she knew _this_ because he proclaimed it, loudly) and clutch at his chest dramatically. And some other times he would ignore her completely, and those were the times that she had to be ready to whirl round with a shield charm prepared because he would try to trip her or turn her hair purple from behind...

In other words, seeing James in the corridors was _fun_.

Seeing Sev or Black in the corridors, especially at the same time, was getting downright _scary_.

* * *

Lily was coming down the corridor.

Grace was walking with her, and they were talking about something, Lily was gesturing wildly, clearly arguing a point, while Grace shook her head and looked appalled at Lily's view on the matter.

Then Lily saw him, and her head went up just the slightest fraction. Knowing that that meant the game was on, James pretended like he hadn't seen them, as though he hadn't half been looking out for her even while waiting for his mates. They walked past, and Lily didn't even pause in her conversation, and when she drew her wand out of her pocket to start drawing diagrams in the air (in dark red) it looked perfectly natural, but James, grinning as he raised his own wand, deciding between a jelly-legs jinx or the classic tripping hex, knew it wasn't.

He was opening his mouth to mutter the spell, adrenaline and nervousness rising through his stomach, when Lily suddenly squeaked, froze for a second, and bolted through a section of wall that hid the way to a passage. Grace jumped in surprise, noticed something James couldn't see from his current position, and turned back to him with a snarl.

"Sort them _out_, why don't you? They're driving her _mad_."

She ran after Lily, leaving James alone and confused. He went over the wall the two girls had vanished through, half-wanting to follow them, when he heard a vicious string of swearing, a bang and cry of "_YOU_!"

He turned on his heel, his wand already drawn from the potential encounter with Lily, and found himself horribly glad of it as he cast the quickest and worst shield charm of his life so far. Snape's spell shattered the shield easily, but all he felt was the hard thump of a bruise starting on his chest, so it had done something. Sirius, standing a little way down the corridor and looking shocked at Snape's sudden change of target, his face swelling with nasty looking lumps, dropped his wand and tackled Snape from behind, managed to get one arm round his knees and brought the other wizard crashing down on top of himself.

Almost as if they had rehearsed it, James was there with his wand pointed at Snape's throat. Sirius scrambled out from under him, meaning James had to crab-scuttle sideways to keep his wand on Snape, and the pinned boy had enough sense to catch the look in James' eye and stay still.

Still-ish. He wriggled his shoulder blades against the flagstones, and his face twisted through a number of alarming different expressions. James found himself wanting to look away from the hate in Snape's eyes and turned to Sirius.

"_What_ is your _problem_?"

Sirius scowled and nodded to Snape, trapped on the floor.

"Not in front of _him_, alright?"

James shrugged, muttered "Whatever," and quickly body-bound Snape. He went rigid, only his eyes frantically moving in a face that was caught halfway between two emotions. It looked, James reflected, amusingly like Snape was trying to solve a difficult problem with a stomach ache. Sirius noticed it too, and barked out his signature laugh.

"This," Sirius said, and he had no problem looking Snape in the eye, "Is too good an opportunity to miss. That new hex we've been saving?"

In the restricted section of the library, despite the fact that the card glued to the inside cover showed that it should be in the Defence against the Dark Art's section, and not restricted at all, and shoved between two old tomes on potions, was a battered copy of _Hexes and Jinxes for the Advanced Wizard,_ author unknown. The four boys had found this book in the hunt for texts on the animagus transformation, and since then had made a point of finding a new hex at least once a month and using it on someone they felt had completely deserved it. The hex this month caused the victim to suddenly decide they were an elephant shrew and start building nests in the first dark place they found. Sirius was very eager to use it. (If he was totally honest, so was James).

But James shook his head. "For an ambush in the corridor? Sorry Padfoot, but no. This needs a... more hands on approach."

Sirius looked confused, and the eyes of the bound Snape tried to widen. James raised his wand and said, loudly and clearly, "_Scribo_." He tilted his head and looked down at Snape's face reflectively. "What d'you think, Sirius? Moustache or glasses?"

Sirius had recognised the spell by now, "Oh, both Prongs. Definitely both." As James started to scribble Snape a wonderfully luxuriant moustache with his wand as the quill, Sirius added, "But not, I think a goatee. I'm planning on growing one."

"Really?" James was privately highly doubtful that Sirius would grow enough facial hair for a goatee, but whatever. He finished his scribbling and stood up. "Help me roll him into the shadows, will you? It's no fun if someone finds him too soon."

They left Snape tucked neatly away by the edge of the corridor, and strolled away towards the stairs.

"Y'know," Sirius began, "I've been thinking. That Elephant Shrew spell, you wanna use it on Evans some time in your ambushes?"

James didn't so as much as look at his friend as he said, "_No_.". Sirius considered the tone of his voice and nodded.

"Fair enough."

"Why are going after Snape so much?" James changed the subject. "Evans' friends said that you two can't pass each other in the corridor without fighting."

"Since when have we ever passed Snape in the corridors without something happening?"

"Very rarely," James admitted, "But not full on duelling, I've seen you, you can't leave him alone. What's up?"

Sirius cast a black look over his shoulder, but they had turned a corner and were headed towards the Great Hall. He started to talk, but then scowled and cut his sentence off. "It's-" Remus and Peter were trotting down the corridor towards them. "Later, alright?"

"Sirius, what happened to your face?" Remus frowned a little as he asked the question.

Sirius did indeed have a bruise starting on his cheek though the boils were mostly faded, and James' chest was beginning to really complain, but the two of them merely shrugged it off. "Nothing," said James, grinning, "Nothing to worry your furry head over."

"My head is not furry." Remus smiled and glanced upwards. "Yet."

"We ran into Snape, is all," James threw an arm round Sirius' shoulder, "But we dealt with it."

Remus startled, while Peter frowned. They exchanged such a significant look with Sirius that James wondered if he was missing something. Finally, Peter shook his head. "Come on, dinner will be over soon. We still need to get Moony to the hospital wing."

They set off. James hung back, watching his friends; because something was... off slightly. Sirius and Remus kept exchanging looks over Peter's head, and Remus was shaking, tiny little shakes that made him quiver, and goose bumps were spreading along his arms. It _was_ January, but the castle corridors were warm enough, James shook himself violently, like a wet dog, so his glasses nearly fell off and his head thumped. _Enough, _he thought, _you're as paranoid as Evans._

* * *

Lily waited until the sounds of Potter and Black faded down the corridor before slipping out back into the corridor through the fake wall. Grace, martyr as ever to Lily's paranoia, followed with a _huff_ if irritated breath. Lily walked a little way down the hallway, scanning the edges, Grace stood still and watched her, and Lily was glad Grace was silent, because she didn't want to talk about it.

She finally found Sev, tucked away into the shadows of a decorative archway in the wall, and rolled him out easily. He was so scrawny that she didn't need Grace's help to move him. His eyes were scrunched up in frustration, and James had drawn a flowing moustache and a pair of glasses, as well as spirals on his cheeks, onto his face.

She cancelled the hex, helped him to his feet, but held up a hand before he could say anything.

"Don't bother." Lily turned away and motioned to Grace to carry on towards dinner. "I think I can honestly say you deserved that."

* * *

"Pete, where's Sirius?" James had slipped upstairs to fetch the cloak, leaving Sirius and Peter to wait by the portrait hole, but now he was back and Sirius was gone. "Has he gone out without the cloak? It's past curfew and if he gets caught then Moony..."

Peter cut him off, "No, it's alright, he gone to Moony now."

"On his own?"

"That was the plan."

James felt a sinking in his chest. "The plan?"

"Sirius said you wouldn't like it," Peter spoke with the resignation of one who knows he has drawn the short straw, "And you won't. I wish I didn't have to tell you, but it wouldn't have worked if I'd gone."

"_What wouldn't have worked?"_

"Sirius is letting Snape follow him down to the shack."

* * *

_What to do? What to do? _James' head was running in circles. Fortunately he himself wasn't, he doubted that he could have run faster if Flich himself had been at his heels. The castle was quiet tonight, and James' feet hit the flagstones so hard the sound echoed, he couldn't bring himself to care, just pushed his legs faster.

_What to do? _Snape couldn't see Moony. The fact was almost imprinted onto James' bones he'd thought it so often, no one could see Moony except themselves, it was taking risk to the new level of downright dangerous. But how to stop it? Sirius and Snape couldn't be too far ahead, but James was running as fast as he could and there was no sign of them... Sirius could easily have let Snape shadow him to the Willow through any number of passages... _too many options, _James thought, _best to just get there. _

He cannoned out the main door, tripped, hit the ground and was up and running as Prongs before the door had swung closed. His vision, he could see so much _more_ as a deer, not just better quality but more scope as well, worked fine in the gathering dark and he saw the Whomping Willow shudder and still. He ran faster.

Now more leaping over the ground than merely galloping, James saw the shadowly shape of the black dog slip back out the passage, he snorted, in dog form, Sirius would have had no trouble slipping back behind Snape and leaving him. The dog paused at the passage entrance, but the Willow sprang awake and a hefty limb hit the dog in the side sending it flying with a strangled yelp.

James, animal rage overtaking reason, changed his course and ran straight at the dog as he hit the ground. Sirius heard him, saw him, and scrambled out of the way just before James ran over him. James swerved on a hoof and pelted for the Willow again but Padfoot hit him in the side, all his weight behind his front paws and James went over, dog and stag tumbling over the grass. James, human again, shoved the dog off his chest. For a moment all he could do was stare in confused rage.

"You fucking idiot. You _fucking idiot._" The dog was staring at him, ears quivering as it tried to work out what he meant, "All of you are fucking-"

James remembered Snape and ran again. A branch caught him round the side of the head, and he fell, scraping his shin, but James scrambled forward on all fours, Padfoot's frantic barking loud behind him. Without going stag James couldn't work out what the hell Sirius was saying, and as he suspected all of it was abuse he ignored it. He rolled under a swinging branch and plummeted, head first, down the tunnel.

The pitch darkness was silent, and James wondered if Moony had transformed yet, as no howl had risen from the Shack. He crept down the tunnel, eyes on the lookout for Snape. Poised as he was to transform as quickly as possible, antlers were a more effective weapon than many realised, James smelt Snape before he saw the other boy. Snape smelled distinctly unpleasant, and not just because James didn't like him, Snape reeked of sweat and adrenaline. James turned the last corner and saw Snape, hand on the door to the shack, and before James could yell or reach him or even go for his wand, Snape opened the door.

* * *

The howl echoed up to the window, loud enough to carry through the thick glass and closed curtains. Lily's head shot up from her essay, due tomorrow, and she crossed to the window and pulled aside the drapes. The grounds, and beyond them, the still forest, lay bathed in the silver moonlight, and Lily looked up at the full moon.

Of course. Full moon meant werewolves, and she heard that many used the forbidden forest to ride out the transformation. She thought briefly of the unicorn stallion, but she knew he was far too fast to need to worry about werewolves. The howl rose up again, not lonely and plaintive like a true wolf howl, but angry and hungry.

Lily shivered and went back to her essay.

* * *

In the confines of the tunnel, the howl hurt the ears and sent James reeling in protest, heightened senses screaming. Snape, ahead of him, shouted in fear and James looked up to see Moony, balanced on his back legs, towering over Snape, one heavy front paw raised and claws dully glinting.

Moony roared, Snape hollared, and James dived at Snape's legs and brought him down as Remus swung at his face. Snape hit the ground, trapped under James' body weight, and James rolled over to see Moony, off balance and back on all fours, half stood over the two boys on the floor.

James, and this, oddly, was the bit that he later replayed over and over in his head in mortification, screamed like a little girl and kicked Moony in the stomach with both feet. The werewolf tumbled off them, luckily _back_ into the Shack, and James grabbed Snape by the collar and dragged him out into the passage. Moony, behind them on the floor and winded, lay gasping, nose still outside the doorway.

_Sorry Remus_, James thought, and kicked him in the nose.

Remus rolled backwards, yelping, and James slammed the door and locked it with stronger spells than the ones his dad used on the liquor cabinet. The wolf's weight hit the door, and it shuddered but held. James knew that the whole of the outside of the Shack had been reinforced against werewolves, so he was fine leaning on the door to keep himself upright.

The howl rose again, just as loud, and James, stag so close to the surface he could feel the fur under his skin, an expression none except another animagus would understand, shook his head in protest, then wondered why he couldn't feel the weight of his antlers.

The door buckled again, and James, back to himself, pushed off it, and for the first time looked Snape in the eye.

He had a scratch along one cheekbone, blood was staring to slip down his face, and mud and sweat plastered to his forehead, and forearms, and just generally everywhere visible, and James had no desire to enquire as how to what _wasn't_ visible was doing.

Snape was also wearing an expression of elated triumph on his face, and it made James sick to see it.

"Bastard." He said, and stunned him.

The click of claws had James tense with panic, but it was only Padfoot, creeping down the tunnel towards them. His whole body language was submissive, head tucked down by his furry chest, tail under his belly and back arched so he curled into himself. James met his grey eyes in the darkness and curled to his lip to show his distain.

One of things about regularly turning into animals was that the four boys had really developed the whole body language thing, and Sirius could tell merely from James' stiff posture that he had screwed up big time. The door quivered again, and then came the unmistakable scrape of claws down the wood. The boy and the dog winced, because nails on the blackboard had nothing on _that _sound, and Padfoot glanced at the door, then back at James, a question unspoken in the air between them.

"Not today mate." James said, suddenly unbelievably tired. "He's got to do it alone this time."

Sirius looked at the door again and whined.

* * *

Well here we are again, and I know I'm repeating myself, but I'm sorry for the long wait on this one. I would have put another notice up to say I was working on it, but I think if I do that then this story will turn into notices about the story being late with occasional chapters thrown in. I'm thinking of starting a tumblr or something so you can check up on progress if you want to, and also so I can stalk the awesome L/J writers on tumblr and learned all about reblogging things and all that jazz. I'll let you know.

Hope you like it! And I'm afraid this one's more serious than previous, and next chapter will continue this theme, but then we get back to hilarious misadventures and Lily's paranoia. (And then I will blindside you with Snape's worst memory, and the story will plunge back into seriousness. But that's not for a little while.)

So, next chapter:

Snape-Finding-Out-About-The-Whole-Werewolf-Thing: The Aftermath! (coming soon to a cinema near you!)

James and Lily and corridors

Interesting conversations between a red-head and her various acquaintances.

See you next time! (hopefully a little sooner than usual :D)


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